By Chioma Okoye

Once a jobless graduate with no accolades, no connections, and no clear future, Daniel Yakubu has emerged as one of the most influential voices in Nigeria’s relocation space. Today, he is the founder of Japa With Ease, an independent platform that has helped over 200 Nigerians legally and affordably start new lives abroad — without agents, inflated costs, or false promises.

But his journey didn’t begin with stamped passports and success stories. It began with rejection, silence, and the raw desperation that so many Nigerian graduates know all too well.

“I thought getting a degree was the hard part,” Daniel recalls. “But what came after was far tougher.”

After earning a second-class lower degree in mathematics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Daniel returned from NYSC full of hope — only to be met with over 50 unanswered job applications and a ₦45,000 recruitment scam that wiped out his last savings.

“That was the first time I cried as an adult,” he says. “Not because of the money, but because it hit me that nobody was coming to save me.”

Raised in the quiet village of Orokam, Benue State, by subsistence farmers, Daniel returned home jobless, spending his days on the farm and his nights browsing cyber cafés — powered only by hope and occasional electricity.

A near-death experience during a job interview in Kano changed everything. A nearby explosion sent him running for his life. That night, on a thin mattress in a guesthouse, Daniel made a vow: “If I’m going to leave Nigeria, it has to be the right way.”

Rather than follow the common backdoor route through North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea, Daniel turned to an old university classmate who had moved to Germany on a scholarship. To his surprise, the classmate shared everything — from visa requirements to accommodation tips. Daniel simply copied the blueprint.

By July 2011, he received his own admission letter to HTW Berlin. He had no first-class degree. No foreign connections. Just determination, grit, and a process that worked.

That process would later evolve into Japa With Ease.

More than a relocation brand, Japa With Ease is a blueprint-sharing movement. Unlike traditional agents who demand passports and make empty guarantees, Daniel’s model empowers individuals to take control of their journey.

“We don’t promise visas. We teach,” Daniel says. “We show people how to find real schools, apply for jobs abroad, write compelling emails, and ace visa interviews.”

He calls it a dignity-first model — where people learn a skill they can reuse or even teach their siblings. It’s about empowerment, not dependency.

The results are real. One of his early mentees, a young woman from Ogun State, joined a training in 2019. Nine months later, she got her German visa and sent Daniel a tearful voice note: “My parents thought I was wasting time on the internet. But today, I proved something to them and to myself.”

That moment, Daniel says, was when he knew this work was bigger than him.

According to Daniel, the biggest misconception about relocation in Nigeria is that it’s either for the very rich or the dangerously desperate.

“People think you either have to pay millions to agents or risk your life on illegal routes. But there are in-between options — affordable, legal, and doable. They just don’t trend on social media.”

He adds that many people are not lacking potential, just direction. “Most Nigerians don’t need magic. They need a map. That’s what we give them.”

Responsible Mentorship in a Desperate Time

With rising youth unemployment and economic strain, Daniel is cautious not to sell false hope. Instead, he shares his own rejections, delays, and visa frustrations to show that the journey takes work.

“We tell people: This will work — but it will take work.”

He believes institutions can do more. Schools should integrate global mobility into career services. Communities should host sessions with returnees who speak the truth. And the government should create verified portals for migration support — just like NAFDAC certifies drugs.

For Daniel, the mission is far from over. Japa With Ease is expanding its reach, launching online courses, resource kits, and community webinars to demystify the relocation process even further.

His message to every struggling Nigerian graduate? “Use the internet like it’s your second university. Message people. Apply for opportunities even if you think you’re not good enough. Rejection is normal. Silence is normal. But giving up — that’s not an option.”

Japa With Ease is an independent Nigerian relocation platform founded by Daniel Yakubu. It offers practical tools, resources, and mentorship for Nigerians seeking legal, affordable relocation opportunities — without agents or hidden charges. The platform has helped over 200 individuals successfully relocate to countries like Germany, Canada, and the UK through fully legal channels.