Framing “Japa” as escape: A case study of discursive strategies and ideological positioning in migration advertisements by the TravelBySelf agency

Abstract

The term Japa—a Yoruba expression meaning “to flee”—has become a popular shorthand for the growing trend of emigration among Nigerians, particularly youth and professionals seeking better opportunities abroad. While existing studies have examined the socio-economic drivers and media narratives surrounding this phenomenon, limited attention has been paid to the persuasive discourse of digital migration advertising. This study critically examines how TravelBySelf, a Nigerian migration agency, frames migration in its online advertisements. Drawing on van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach to Critical Discourse Analysis and Framing Theory, the study analyzes ten purposively selected advertisements (five video pop-ups and five email campaigns) circulated between 2021 and 2023. The analysis reveals a dual ideological strategy in which Nigeria is constructed as a space of chronic dysfunction through negative labelling, dysphemism, and rhetorical questioning, while Canada is represented as a redemptive space through personalization, metaphor, and selective success narratives. Migration is further normalized through discursive legitimation and economic reframing, presenting it as both ethically justified and financially rational. Building on these findings, the study proposes the Aspirational Migration Framing Model (AMFM) to explain how digital migration advertising combines moral-affective positioning, testimonial legitimation, and economic reframing to construct migration as a virtuous and inevitable escape. This study contributes to migration discourse scholarship by foregrounding online migration advertising as a key ideological site in the production of aspirational mobility narratives in the Global South.

Keywords

Aspirational Migration Framing Model (AMFM)Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)migration discourse online advertising Japa phenomenon Nigeria ideological framing digital migration narratives

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