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- Avoid Sudan situation, register on Diaspora portal, NIDCOM advises Nigerians abroad
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu will participate in the the 17th Annual National Diaspora Day 2023, on July 24th, to celebrate and recognise the contributions of Nigerians in the Diaspora to national development.
The hybrid event will have 500 people attend physically and 10,000 virtually, has the theme for 2023 is “Consolidating Diaspora Engagement for National Development”.
The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, made the disclosure at a press conference in Abuja.
She acknowledged that over 17 million Nigerians are performing feats, internationally in the fields of Education, Medicine, Health, Sports, Media and Entertainment, Leadership and Politics, Finance, Science and ICT, Transportation, Tourism, Industry and Agribusiness. Their skills, knowledge, network and experiences are indispensable assets which can be harnessed to bolster Nigeria’s progress and development.
According to her, “Nigeria, as a nation, is blessed with rich and diverse diaspora population, worldwide. These individuals; our Nigerian brothers and sisters; men and women living abroad, possess immense potential as catalyst and contributors to our national development.”
Dabiri-Erewa stated that “We must accept that the Diaspora characterises a powerful force for change – not because of the financial remittances, but because they pose a lot more than the figures remitted. They are the link to our past and present, and possibly our hope for a better future for Nigeria.
“These men and women from Nigeria, therefore, must be intentionally celebrated in every possible way for their role as Ambassadors of our dear country globally; trendsetters in various walks of life but most importantly in encouraging them to invest in the sustainable growth of the country. Hence, the celebrations each year is to recognise them and mainstream them into our national development agenda.”
The 2023 Diaspora National Day celebration, she said would include a Diaspora merit award while the main programme include presidential address, celebrity interview, panel discussions and many other activities.
Meanwhile, Dabiri-Erewa has stressed the need for Nigerians abroad to register on the NiDCOM portal.
Dabiri-Erewa said this has become necessary to avoid the Sudan experience where lots of Nigerian students were not captured for evacuation at the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary.
According to her, the official figure of Nigerian students in Sudan before the outbreak of hostility was said to be about 3,000 but that turned out to be much less than the actual figure as many of the students did not identify with the Nigeria Embassy.
NiDCOM boss who stressed the importance of data said, “We all know that the data of diaspora is about 10 million Nigerians in Diaspora.
“One of the things I will like us to work on is the issue of data. We have set up a portal for data capturing. It’s growing gradually and we want you to be more involved in getting Nigerians in diaspora to let us know where they are. Because at the end of the day, we lose nothing. It is when there is crisis that we know that this data is important.
“For parents in particular, let your children going to school in particular go on that data portal, tell us where they are and what they are doing.
“We know what happened in Sudan when there was war. When we said they were three million, people said she doesn’t know what she is talking about. They were even much more than that in Sudan. So let’s keep stressing the issue of data.”
The representatives of Nigerians Diaspora Community from Europe, including led by Omusa Baba Onyoma
Vice Continental Chairman, NIDO Europe and Chairman NIDO UK South, Susan Waya, are already on ground.
They are to donate medical equipment to hospitals, support to different NGOs, orphanages, school for the blind, among others.
