Nigerians in the diaspora have been commended for uplifting the image of Nigeria in their host countries, excelling globally and contributing to Nigeria’s development with their resources, talents, skills and global exposure.
The Nigerian President Bola Tinubu made the commendation at the 2023 National Diaspora Day Celebrations in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The President, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, also noted that due to the diaspora’s contributions, remittance has increased greatly.
“It is also gratifying to note that we have annually on July 25th Celebrated the achievements of our Diaspora, many of whom are our Ambassadors. In 2022, our Diaspora home remittances through official Channels stood at $21.9b, over four times the value of our Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The Nigerians in the Diaspora are also actively investing in our Healthcare, Agriculture, Education, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Housing and Real Estate, Sports, Transportation, Oil and Gas and other sectors. This I must say is commendable and in our enlightened self-interest as only Nigerians both at home and abroad can develop Nigeria. “The theme for this years celebrations, ‘Consolidating Diaspora Engagements for National Development’, is apt giving the fact that it births the new dawn in our political journey with the aim of strengthening our development in policies and programmes with our Diaspora Community across the globe for national development.” he noted
President Tinubu, while also commending the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) for coming up with laudable programmes for Nigerians in Diaspora to invest at home, also reiterates government commitment to create effective policies and enabling environment for Nigerians in Diaspora.
“I believe in the years to come, these programmes will impact tremendously on our economy by catalyzing our developmental efforts. I therefore encourage you to key into these programmes for our mutual benefits. This new democratically elected government is a Diaspora friendly one, which will provide an enabling platform for effective policies for the Diaspora with the view to galvanizing support for the new administration and concretizing our democracy, setting a good example for other African countries to emulate,” he reiterated.
The President also promised to look into the challenges of NiDCOM “with a view to ameliorating same so that we will harvest maximally the benefits of our engagements with our Diaspora for national development”.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation Senator George Akume, urged Nigerian to key in the nation’s development agenda.
“It is important to stress that all Nigerians both at home and Diaspora should key into our development agenda as only Nigerians can develop Nigeria. This includes both those at home and those in the Diaspora,”.
According to the Chairman NiDCOM, Dr. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a lot of successes have been recorded since the establishment of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) four years ago.
“Our theme “Consolidating Diaspora Engagement for National Development” is not only appropriate but a summary of the entire mandate of NiDCOM which is to engage and harness the talent, skills, resources and global exposure of Nigerians in the Diaspora for national development. Our interactions with the Diaspora community during this year’s National Diaspora Day celebrations therefore are expected to mobilize the Diaspora to key into some of the programmes of the government and to chart improved and better ways on how to achieve the positive results for national development within the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of the government,” she said
Dabiri-Erewa, however, used the opportunity to solicit for more support to empower the Commission by reviewing its Act as well as provision of enabling environment to be able to harness the potentials of the diaspora.
