Some professionals and leaders of the Nigerian community in U. S. have appealed for lasting solutions to Nigeria’s security challenges.
The appeal came in a communiqué at the end of a two-day “Nigeria Diaspora Leadership Conference” in New York on Sunday.
The participants, including top government officials, decried the spate of terrorism, kidnapping and banditry in some parts of the country.
They advised government to involve security experts in Diaspora in addressing the menace.
The conference also stressed the need for government to formally engage Diaspora professionals and tap into their “abundant knowledge in tackling the challenges of underdevelopment in Nigeria”.
According to them, Nigerian professionals abroad have a lot to contribute in the areas of healthcare delivery, education, ICT, among others, in line with international best practices
.They welcomed the establishment of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission and called for effective engagement of Diaspora professionals in various fields towards the execution of the commission’s mandate.
The participants underscored the contributions of Diaspora remittances to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) a figure that stood at 25 billion dollars (N8 trillion) in 2018, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
In a report titled; “Nigeria Economic Outlook-top 10 themes to watch out for in 2919’, the international audit firm said the figure was the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Currently, Nigeria is one of the top five nations with high Diaspora remittance inflows globally, according to PwC.
It added that the record level of Diaspora remittance to Nigeria represented 6.1 per cent of the country’s GDP, and 83 per cent of the 2018 federal budget.
This, the participants noted, called for a “comprehensive policy framework by government to ensure that remittances are channelled towards all critical sectors for national development”.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in New York, reports that presidential aide, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, spoke on the proposed policy at the conference.
Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, said her office was drafting a National Diaspora Policy and a strategic action plan.
“That policy is almost completed. We are working with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to cross the T’s and dot the I’s.
“What we have been able to draft covers everything about the Diaspora, and every ministry, department and agency that we have to work with is there in the policy.
“If we are able to implement it, you will all run back to Nigeria. When it is ready we will take it to the Federal Executive Council to be adopted, and then we will take it from there.”
NAN reports that the conference had as theme; “Uniting Diaspora Leaders for National Development’’.
It was organised by the Nigerian consulate in New York, in collaboration with the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington D.C. and the Nigeria consulate in Atlanta, with support from the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations.
