Sola Sobowale Meme: The Face Of 'Japa Twitter'

If you are a Twitter person, you probably have seen the iconic Sola Sobowale meme from the movie 'King of Boys: The Return of the King'.

The 57-year-old actress held up a wine cup like she wanted to have a toast, wearing a roguish grin and a subtitle that reads 'Welcome to a new dispensation'

Whenever you see that meme paired with a picture of 'delete proton', you immediately know that someone has just left Nigeria.

In case you don't know, Proton is a VPN that Nigerians opted for since Lai Mohammed banned Twitter in the country because the citizens were disrespectful to the president. 

At least that is what a typical Nigerian youth who uses Twitter will tell you if you ask why the microblogging app was banned.

Posting the 'Delete Proton' signifies that the person who posted it is leaving a country that requires one to have a VPN before accessing Twitter to another country that has access to Twitter.

Although Nigerians have been relocating from their motherland to another country for greener pastures, 'Japa' Twitter is making it look like Nigerians just started leaving the country in 2021.

Did you just ask what Japa is? Hmmm... I'll explain. Don't be confused.

Japa is a Nigerian slang derived from the Yoruba language which simply means 'to run swiftly' out of a dangerous situation.

It originates from two Yoruba words 'Ja' which means to run and 'Pa' which means to make something seem larger, better, worse, or more important than it really is or needs to be. That is according to the Urban dictionary by the way.

Before the release of 'King of Boys: The Return of the King' Nigerians on Twitter usually posted a picture of themselves at the airport; an indication that they had definitely gotten to their destination days back.

The fear of village people would never let anyone announce their exit before they've gotten to their destination - with the caption 'Goodbye Nigeria, the evil you've done is enough' or 'The last person to leave the country should off the light'.

Photo Source: Twitter

Now that the movie is out, it suddenly seems cool to use the meme and it is safe to say that the legendary actor, Sola Sobowale is the new face of 'Japa Twitter'. And the 'Welcome to a new disposition' suddenly looks inspirational, an emblem of hope to the youths who feel trapped in the country and would want to relocate elsewhere in search of greener pastures.