Nigeria Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM says President Muhammadu Buahri is the most diaspora-friendly leader the country has had.
Chairman of the Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa stated this in Abuja on Thursday at the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team.
She said; “Whenever President Buhari goes on foreign trips, he holds town hall meetings with Nigerians out there. He holds robust discussions with them and to us, that is very encouraging. He has also ensured we return home, Nigerians that are stranded abroad. From Libya, the President brought back over 10,000 Nigerians; honestly, that is a feat. From South Africa, we thank him so much; he was able to bring back a lot of them during xenophobic attacks.
“Ukraine, here again, the President successfully brought back every Nigerian that was stranded in Ukraine, and honestly speaking, we thank him for that leadership. In the UAE, it is a trending problem. As I speak, we have 302 Nigerians waiting in the holding center being profiled.
“We warned that people should not go to that country or similar countries but our people are still going out, breaking the laws of other countries and calling us to help them. This has to stop.”
Furthermore, she warned Nigerians against traveling to Northern Cyprus, due to the human rights abuses meted out to Nigerians in that country.
Dabiri-Erewa further said that the country, which is only recognised by Turkey, does not have robust mechanisms that would enable the Nigerian government to pursue justice for several Nigerian students killed in Northern Cyprus.
“Officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Northern Cyprus is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Recognized only by Turkey, Northern Cyprus is largely considered by the United Nations and the international community to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
“Think twice before going to Northern Cyprus. We can’t do much for Nigerians there. Our students are being killed daily,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
The NiDCOM Chairman dismissed the fears of Nigerians in the Diaspora that their business interests in the country may be in jeopardy by the prevailing security situation, as she acknowledged that the insecurity in some parts of Nigeria is temporary.
Dabiri-Erewa stressed that the Nigerian security forces have recently been bombarding terrorists to end their menace, expressing confidence that whoever invests in the country among the Diasporans would have a return for their investments.
Elections
She used the opportunity to re-echo calls for diaspora voting during general elections in Nigeria as done in other parts of the world.
The NiDCOM Chairman, who lamented that the National Assembly has not given the needed cooperation in that regard, however, expressed optimism that the matter would be given the needed attention at the end of the day.
She said; “We engage committees on diaspora affairs in the parliament, particularly for diaspora voting and unfortunately we didn’t succeed. The National Assembly is still not interested in diaspora voting but we will not relent.
“We will continue to engage with them because I believe that those in the diaspora should be able to vote because they are legally living in other countries, paying tax there.”
The NiDCOM Boss announced that over 20 billion dollars have been invested back home by Nigerians in the diaspora, thus boosting the Nigerian economy in the process.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
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