Nigeria’s federal government has unveiled its plan to establish a Diaspora Centre of Excellence in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba said this at the Networking Event of the Global African Diaspora Symposium (GADS) in Abuja on Thursday night.
The Minister, in a goodwill message, said: “Arising from the Diaspora Forum held on the margins of the 10th Summit of Heads of States and Government of the Organisation of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) held in Luanda, Angola in December 2022, I am particularly pleased that our meeting today demonstrates our commitments to promotion of South-South exchanges for strengthening Diaspora engagements.”
Prince Agba appreciated the visionaries behind the forward-thinking initiative for the 1st Organisation of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Conference on Diaspora: the Secretary – General of the OACPS, Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti; the Director, Africa Diaspora Policy Centre, Dr. Awil Mohammed, the Nigerian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, Amb. Obinna C. Onowu and the entire members of the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors in Brussels, to mention a few.
He said that their visionary leadership had provided an enabling platform, which would not only encourage creative thinking but would institutionalize clearer paths in harnessing Diaspora resources for sustainable economic growth and development of African countries.
He said: “In line with objective of the OACPS Diaspora Platform, this Networking event is apt for participants of the Global African Diaspora Symposium (GADS) to create alliances and future partnerships as we move towards establishing a Diaspora Centre of Excellence in our capital city, Abuja.
“All hands must, therefore, be on deck in establishing enduring systems for promoting the commitments under the revised OACPS Georgetown Agreement (2019) and the Dublin Agreement (2022) of the International Organization on Migration (IOM) if we are to meet the objectives for facilitation of migrants and Diasporas to contribute more to sustainable development.”
Agba said that while looking forward to entrenching better systems of engagement with the Diaspora, it was “pertinent to appreciate the support and key role of the International Organization on Migration (IOM) and other multilateral institutions in promoting humane, orderly migration and return of our people over the years.”
He said that at the global and regional fora, countries continued to make laudable commitments on various aspects of Diaspora engagements, facilitation of migration, and returns but they were not backed with the requisite financial and political support at national level.
He said: “With the establishment of the OACPS Diaspora Platform, we clearly have the critical mass needed to demand for action.
“We must therefore continue to strengthen our network to be a powerful accountability and advocacy tool for effective engagement with the Diaspora across board.”
He said that Nigeria’s experience had shown that Diaspora engagement was a process that required a sustained effort, especially to support Diaspora investment, entrepreneurship endeavours, social remittances and knowledge transfer.
He said: “In this vein, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), which is the custodian of the National Diaspora Policy was established to streamline and provide high-level coordination to the various initiatives for effective engagement with our Diaspora.
“Indeed, our Diaspora compatriots are actively part of our Agenda for economic diversification with the huge quantum of investments in our healthcare, agriculture, education, Information and Communication Technology, housing and real estate, transportation, oil and gas, and other services.”
He said that the Networking event was therefore, “very important to usher us into the series of events lined-up for the Global Africa Symposium 2023.”
He appreciated the efforts of his colleagues and counterparts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission working in close collaboration with the Organisation of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States, and Africa Diaspora Alliance in making the Conference a reality.
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