Abuja – Mrs Ibukun Odusote, the Permanent Secretary (Political Affairs), Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government has called on Nigerians in the Diaspora to see themselves as agents of change and development.
Odusote made the call at the beginning of a two-day 2015 Diaspora Day Conference with the theme: “Diaspora and Nigeria Change Agenda’’ on Monday in Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari will officially declare the conference open on Aug. 25, after which he will take a tour of stands and exhibitions.
The permanent secretary said that citizens in the Diaspora in advanced countries were veritable tools for national development, adding that Nigeria should not be an exception.
She said that the conference was to leverage on the Diaspora community to sustain Nigeria’s technological investment while exploiting the possibility of their return to the country.
She said that the conference was also to get the buying of Nigerians in Diaspora into wooing foreign investors to the country with their influence and connections abroad.
The conference, according to her, will examine three areas which will include health, education, youth empowerment and sports.
Odusote said that the 2015 Diaspora Day had been programmed to achieve deliverables aimed at supporting and enhancing the change agenda of the present administration in the formulation and implementation of policies.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Diaspora Day was initiated by the Federal Government under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It was inaugurated to create a platform for Nigerian experts and professionals in the Diaspora to have a yearly interaction with their home-based counterparts and government officials.
This was to enable them make invaluable contributions in all aspects of human endeavours to enhance national development.
Key agencies of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment were on ground at the conference to brief targeted the Diaspora community on investment opportunities in the country.
Among the agencies are the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
Others are the Bank of Industry (BOI); the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
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At the two-day conference, Dr Ibrahim Wada of Premier Hospital Abuja is expected to speak on Sustainable Health Delivery in Nigeria while Mr Jelani Aliyu will head a discussion on Sustainable Development through Youth Empowerment.
Prof. Chris Imafifon will also speak on Enhancing Education in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Diaspora community covers practically every part of the world but the largest populations of Nigerians can be found in the UK, U.S. and South Africa.
In Europe, London’s Peckham can be called “Little Lagos” and in the U.S., Houston, Texas has the largest population of Nigerians (NAN)