Participants,stakeholders commend NiDCOM at inaugural states diaspora focal point officers summit

Oru Leonard

Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has been commended for creating a platform for absolute involvement of states on its programme to harness the activities of stakeholders in diaspora affairs.

The Inaugural State Diaspora Focal Point Officers Summit held in Abuja on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 had 14 states in attendance. It exposed the state officials to various avenues the states, individuals and groups can leverage on the continued strides of NiDCOM to coordinate their efforts for mutual benefit.In words of the NiDCOM Chairman, “Harnessing Critical Diaspora Resources for Nation Building.”

Speaking, the Chairman/CEO of NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, tasked the state officers cutting across political party lines to ensure that they deliver on their mandates, telling them that “if Nigeria is to succeed in harnessing the rich, vital and critical resources of the diaspora for nation building, the states are the engine room”.

According to her, “It is also right to say that the states are the major stakeholders in terms of execution and benefits.

“Let me therefore implore all of you to maximise your being here today and listen attentively. Be conscious of the purpose of your being here, learn all that you need to learn, ask all the questions you need to ask, equip yourself to the maximum, ready to deliver for your states.

“You should know that we are partners with a great mission. Let’s synergies, collaborate and do the needful to attract desired businesses and projects that abound out there”, she said.

She listed some of the achievements of the Commission, which came into being in June 2019 with the signing of its establishment Act, noting that NiDCOM, in collaboration with the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit, a nongovernmental organisation, organised two investment summits in which Nigerians at home and abroad participated.

She disclosed that the commission has also instituted the 25th July of every year as Diaspora Day and has as well facilitated an annual festival of the Diaspora known as the “Door of Return”. The third edition took place in Badagry in 2019.

The NiDCOM Chairman also said that states like Ekiti and Imo have organised their own versions of Diaspora forums of which the Commission participated. She revealed that the Nigerians in the diaspora commission is on a massive advocacy to get the diaspora to appreciate the critical role they can play in nation building.

“They are being mobilized across all continents and nations to return home and establish businesses in their various areas of expertise”, she said.

She noted that there are success stories where positive results were recorded in the health, agriculture, manufacturing, education, among other sectors.

She said that NiDCOM, being a facilitating agency for the diaspora, is therefore “empowered to provide the leadership and guide needed to achieve set goals. The states and local governments,as politically designed are the primary beneficiaries of any project or programme that may be harvested from the diaspora”, she explained, adding that the interaction was convened to empower and familiarise the participants, state focal persons with the mandate of the commission and also provide the needed impetus for a sound take-off in various states.

On remittances, she said that “the $25 billion estimated to have been remitted and injected into the Nigerian economy in 2018 attest to the enormous resources that can be injected into the economy annually, of which she said does not include other remittances that were done informally.

This figure was corroborated by the Pricewaterhouse Coopers Partner, Mr Tolulope Adeleke who reeled out the figure and projected that the 2023 remittances will rise to $35 billion.

Earlier in his opening remark, the Secretary to the Commission, Dr. Sule Yakubu Bassi, who said he was in Diaspora at a time, recapped the NiDCOM Establishment Act 2017 which set up the Commission to harness the human capital and material resources of Nigerians in Diaspora towards the overall socio-economic, cultural and political development of Nigeria and in fulfilling its mandate, the Commission “structurally found out that Diaspora engagement, programmes and projects would be mainly domiciled in the States and Local government areas of the country.

“In these jurisdictions, your Excellencies, the State Governors are the sovereign authorities and therefore must be brought on board for successful fulfillment of NiDCOM’s mandate”, Bassi said.

Dr. Bassi noted that the Summit was a forum to share knowledge on the functions and activities of NiDCOM and how it dovetails into the federating units of Nigeria as well as a “Network for harnessing the enormous resources and capabilities of the Nigerians in Diaspora for national development.”

The Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who delivered the inaugural lecture went down memory lane, explaining why on assumption of office in 2015, he sought to engage citizens from the State in Diaspora, saying that Nigerians in diaspora are important, n

ot just for the estimated huge remittances annually but more for their expertise in developing various sectors in the country.                                                             

Dr Mrs Omobolanle Olowu who spoke on the Diasporan medical mission dwell on the importance of following due process in the execution of Diasporan medical missions and Outreach programs stating that it was important for the state officials to be well informed early enough to such initiatives in order to ensure standards in their execution.

In her presentation titled: “Diaspora Investment Summit Iniatiative”, Dr Mrs Badewa Williams lauded the success of the Diaspora investment summit initiative and spoke on Partnerships and empowerment of Nigerians by the Nigerian citizens in Diaspora. She noted the impact of foreign investors in the economy and pointed out that it was possible for Nigerians in diaspora to do all that and more in order to grow the economy of the country. She announced the creation of a Nigeria diaspora investment trust fund to enable Nigerians in diaspora monitor the data on how much is invested in which sector of the country.

The issue of Diasporan enrollment for National identity number in order to create a seamless and reliable platform of identification for all Nigerians was cleared by the NIMC.

Several other speakers spoke on Diasporan home remittances , Diasporan state projects and Diasporan investment summit initiative.  It was agreed that if properly harnessed, the remittances could lead to the Nation being less dependent on oil, and increase trade and investment.

The Summits brought out suggestions such as the creation of a diaspora village, as well as the acceptance of drugs for medical outreach as long as they would be out of circulation by their expiration date .

State officials who attended include, Hon Fola Vincent- Ondo State, Dr Mrs Ngozi, Erondu- Abia State, Mr Peter Ichugu- Benue State, Hon Celia Hibbert- Imo State and Dr Senyon Olaoluwa, Head, Diaspora & Transnational Studies, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, who led his students to the Summit.

The title of this edition is “Leveraging Diaspora Resources For National Development”.
The next summit is scheduled to hold in next six months in Abuja.