Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NiDO) Worldwide has again, called on Federal Government to create an enabling environment for compatriots abroad to attract more investors into the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Coordinating Chairman of NiDO-Worldwide, Dr Victor Ubani, who led the delegation of Nigerians Diasporas revealed this at a news conference during 2024 National Diaspora Week celebration, on Saturday in Abuja.
The seven-day event which is often celebrated on July 25 yearly, engages compatriots living abroad in a town hall with President of the country.
According to Ubani; President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had called on all Nigerians in Diaspora to come back home and invest in the country, saying government should provide an enabling environment for such to thrive.
The Continental-Chair of NiDO Americas said, “Although Nigeria has all it takes to make the country great using its natural and human resources.”
“The message I will be taking back to fellow NiDO-Worldwide is there is no place like home.”
“The situation maybe upside down, but we cannot expect foreigners to build our country, reason compatriots should find a way to come back.”
“As they are doing that, we are asking government for an enabling environment, because I do not see Nigerians in the Diaspora come back to invest.”
“Also, to create jobs, when they do not have security and there are deplorable roads, nobody will work in such an environment.”
“Many of us in the Diaspora have come in here to carry out meaningful projects, but bureaucracy has been discouraging. We want to come back home and give back to our society.”
Ubani added that the delegation upon their arrival into the country in the past two weeks, had trained a total of 600 youths on ICT in FCT and Abeokuta, Ogun.
He emphasised that to encourage the organisation to do more to attract investors into the country, government must invest adequately in security and electricity power supply among other things.
The chairman said, “We are not asking for too much, we can help; there is a whole lot of unemployment and what we can do is to see how we can come back to create jobs.”
“The only way we can do that is when government provides us the enabling environment.”
Ubani promised that NiDO-Worldwide would continue to work closely with Nigeria NIDCOM to fully realise this year’s theme “Japa Phenomena and its Implications for National Development.”
He continued, “Nigeria maybe hard, tough and have challenges just like any other country, when you talk about investment and returns on investment, there is no place where returns are higher than what we get in Nigeria.”
“We May have economic challenges, but I am telling people here to always look inward, there are so many things we can do here.”
“What you spent to go abroad could have been used here to advance your life, education and well-being.”
“Returns on investment in diaspora are not what you get here in anything you are doing, in America when you make any amount in your business, you are being taxed 35 per cent of your profit.”
Ubani noted that lots of people traveled abroad to “Japa”, but realised later on that life out there was not what they had perceived.
The chairman added that people who have lived there for 10 to 15 years find it difficult to come home and start business at home.
He further urged government to establish a database to enable the organisation to access all Nigerians living abroad, especially toward responding to distress calls by compatriots under any conflict situations.
Ubani revealed that the delegation had so far officially visited African Development Bank, Minister of Agriculture, NiDCOM boss, and Chairman of House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, to discuss issues concerning Diaspora voting rights and remittances.
