+600 Diaspora Icons @ 60 To Showcase Nigerians In Diaspora – Dabiri-Erewa

+600 Diaspora Icons @ 60 compendium to showcase Nigerians in Diaspora – Dabiri-Erewa

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Chairman/CEO of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa said that the +600 Diaspora Icons @ 60 was published to recognise, celebrate and showcase Nigerians in the Diaspora who are doing great things in their host countries.

She also revealed that the idea of the compendium was inspired by the regular Diaspora Presidential Town Hall meetings.

Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this, on Tuesday, in Abuja during the presentation of the compendium published by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) to President Muhamadu Buhari.

she said, ‘‘The compendium is birthed out of the necessity to recognise, celebrate and showcase Nigerians in the Diaspora who are doing great things in their host countries and also contributing to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.”

Dabiri-Erewa explained that the Commission plans to publish the compendium at regular intervals, towards changing the negative stereotypes typified by the activities of a few Nigerians who do not represent the country well.

Since she was appointed Chairman of NiDCOM by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, to harness the potentials and encourage the contributions of Nigerians in Diaspora towards the development of the country as well as caring for their welfare all over the world, the commission has embarked on a series of interventions in response to the welfare of Nigerians in Diaspora.

One of the recent was in response to attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. The interventions paid off by way of evacuations of stranded Nigerians from South Africa back home since the attacks heightened in 2019.

Amidst the Covid-19 crisis, the commission joined hands with the ministry of foreign affairs and Nigerian missions to evacuate stranded Nigerians around the world. There have been multiple evacuations of Nigerians from several countries as a result of the joint effort.

From June 2020 to March 2021, some 19,085 Nigerians were evacuated and brought back home from various countries for reasons of deportation, human abuses and trafficking, voluntary returnees and the general effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dabiri-Erewa has shown a great deal of commitment in protecting the human capital she targets to mobilise for socio-economic, cultural and political development of Nigeria. She eagerly beams the searchlight in responses to issues affecting Nigerians abroad.

She engages actively within and outside the country towards advancing the course of Nigerians in the Diaspora. She was part of the 25th anniversary of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas where she was amazed at the rating of Nigerian doctors as the best brains in the Americas.

Another strategic step taken by the commission is the setup of Ad hoc National Committee of the Nigerians in Diaspora Investment Fund. The move is in recognition of the huge and yet accelerating role of Diaspora remittances in Nigeria’s economic growth and development. The committee was mandated to determine the mission and objectives of the fund as well as stipulate the procedures for its utilization and management.

Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa was appointed senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora in 2015. She served in that capacity until her appointment to the present position in 2018 and was confirmed by the Legislature in 2019.

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Paul Mbagwu