11/02/2025
UPDATE ON 2-DAY SENSITIZATION AND ADVOCACY PROGRAMME FOR PROMOTING DIASPORA INVESTMENT POTENTIALS IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA HELD AT COMMAND GUEST HOUSE BAUCHI FROM 27th-28th JAN. 2025.
This ground breaking programme was organized by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission(NiDCOM) in partnership with Bauchi State Government primarily with a view to leveraging on Diaspora resources to harness the human and material resources of the Northeast subregion, and unlock investment opportunities for the overall development of the zone. The 2-day event was declared open by the Bauchi State Executive Governor, His Excellency Sen. Bala A. Mohammed ably represented by the Hon. Commissioner for Budget and Multilateral Coordination, Hajiya Amina Muhammad Katagum. In his speech, the Gov. encouraged states of the Northeast to leverage on the untapped potentials of the Nigerian Diaspora describing them as “key assets in providing investment, expertise and skills that could tremendously contribute to Nigeria’s progress.”
Similarly, in her remarks, the Chairman/CEO (NiDCOm) Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, represented by the Commission’s Secretary, Dr. Sule Yakubu Bassy, revealed that the goal of the programme was mainly for Sensitization and Advocacy on the need to attract Diaspora investment in the Northeast subregion of the country. The NiDCOM CEO added that the agency is working assiduously to promote investment opportunities in Nigeria in three key areas namely, Agriculture, Education and Healthcare. She added that “Nigerians in Diaspora have five things we need to catalyze our development in Nigeria. First, they have resources, they have talents, skills, global exposure and global connections.” According to her, this particular sensitization and advocacy programme was the third in the series after two were organized earlier for the Southeast and Southwest respectively. The exercise would terminate with the last segment to be held in Kano for states of the Northwest subregion.
While representing Yobe State at the programme, I had the rare privilege of speaking on behalf of all Diaspora Focal Point Officers of the entire Northeast. I expressed our collective appreciation to NiDCOM and the Bauchi State Government respectively, for partnering to put together the 2-day programme which availed us ample opportunity to reinforce our capacities, synergize and collaborate with other key stakeholders across sectors to unlock new opportunities for the development of the Northeast through a robust Diaspora engagement. I also briefly remarked on Gov. Mai Mala Buni’s commitment to Diaspora engagement as his administration remains steadfast in implementing policies, programmes and projects aimed at transforming Yobe State into a model world class investment hub.
Against the background of the rich investment potentials of the Northeast, panelists at the workshop extensively dwelt on the challenges inhibiting Diaspora investment in the zone. They majorly identified lack of awareness, insecurity, infrastructure deficits, trust issues and poor mobilization and engagement strategies among other factors, worsened by over a decade and a half period of Boko Haram insurgency being the major constraint.
Apart from local issues inhibiting Diaspora investment, a number of propaganda strategies some Diaspora host countries desperately use to spread falsehood and fake news about the homeland also contribute to disrupting potential Diaspora investors from coming home to engage/invest.
Furthermore, on the second day of the event, a courtesy call was paid to the Executive Governor of Bauchi State. The NiDCOM team and State Diaspora Focal Point Persons (SDFPOs) were led to Government House Bauchi by the NiDCOM Secretary, Dr. Sule Yakubu Bassy. The visit was coordinated by the SDFPO/Coordinator Multilateral Affairs Bauchi State, Dr. Esther Ahmed.
In his brief, but crucial remarks, the host Governor, Sen. Bala A. Mohammed maintained that if properly harnessed, numerous benefits would be derived from Diaspora investment. The Governor remarked that, “Nigerians in Diaspora constitute a major source of potential investment to us and of course a source of knowledge, ideas, experience and expertise. They have all it takes to turn around our fortunes, while providing us with abundant opportunities for engaging our unemployed youth and women.” He added that “Despite its abundant human and material resources, the Northeast of Nigeria is characterized by dependence on statutory allocations from the Federation Account(FAAC) and the statutory share of VAT. The over one decade bitter experience of Boko Haram mayhem has weakened the fabric of farming which is the region’s single most important source of livelihood.”
In the light of ongoing efforts by states of the Northeast to reclaim the region’s glorious past, changing the narrative about the zone is key. Governor Bala therefore called on states of the Northeast to individually and collectively prioritize internal revenue generation through the appropriate exploitation of the region's potentials most especially as the country approaches a new Tax regime which seems to favour states with higher GDP. Amidst these challenges, the need to prioritize engagement with the subregion’s Diaspora on the basis of a win-win collaboration and partnership cannot be overemphasized. This measure will no doubt turn the potential of the Northeast subregion into viable opportunities for socioeconomic development. Thus, the programme presented an excellent opportunity to pave the way forward in terms of positive engagement with the subregion’s Diaspora in order to attract investment through financial and intellectual remittances among other benefits.
Referring to the general organization of the 2-day event, Gov. Bala Mohammed described “the timing of the workshop as apt and commendable.” He equally commended NiDCOM for carrying its sensitization and advocacy programme to the sub national level in order to cascade ideas and experiences for a robust Diaspora engagement to be embarked upon. The NiDCOM Secretary Dr. Bassy, revealed that there are about 20m Nigerians in Diaspora comprising 2m historical Diaspora and 18m modern Diaspora. They bring in at least USD 20m every year representing 6% of the country’s GDP which is more than what the Oil and Gas sector can contribute within the same period. On the whole, over a total of USD 90B was brought in by Nigerians in Diaspora in cash, intellectual property and resources in the last five years. Given this fact, the Nigerian Diaspora as a stakeholder in Nigeria's economy cannot be overlooked.
Participants at the programme have made a number of recommendations and measures to improve on the present level of low Diaspora engagement in the Northeast subregion:
The media to stop/discourage rampant negative reporting about the country which amounts to discouraging potential Diaspora investors. Highlighting disadvantages does more harm than good to the country's omage;
Governments of the Northeast states need to introduce Diaspora friendly policies for ease of doing business;
Sensitization and advocacy programmes to be upscaled in order to create more awareness on both sides, the Diaspora and the homeland alike, with a view to building trust and confidence. Advocacy should cascade to family and community levels including mosques and Churches to create more awareness about the crucial role the Diaspora could play in adding value to development;
States to establish their individual Diaspora database to have a reliable statistics of their presence in diaspora for proper engagement, partnership and collaboration;
States to put in place necessary legislative mechanism to facilitate, boost and safeguard diaspora investments;
Governments of the Northeast states to invest more in security with a view to creating a secure enabling environment for Diaspora investment to thrive.
The NiDCOM CEO called for the upgrade of State Diaspora Focal Point Offices into full fledged Commissions for optimal performance.
It is on record that His Excellency Hon. Mai Mala Buni,CON,COMN, the Executive Governor of Yobe State is way ahead in Diaspora engagement. Gov. Buni hit the ground running on assuming office in 2019 with Diaspora engagement already a key priority of his transformational and citizen centric administration. Key Diaspora figures of Yobe State have been identified and carried on board. They are currently contributing to governance with impactful role on the policies, programmes and projects of the present administration. Yobe State under Gov. Bumi was among the first few states to set up a functional Diaspora Focal Point Office with a view to driving a meaningful engagement with the state’s Diaspora communities. His Excellency’s numerous scorecards in critical sectors namely Road Infrastructure, Agriculture, Education, Healthcare as well Trade and Commerce all constitute efforts towards creating the necessary enabling environment for Diaspora driven private sector investment.
I had the rare privilege of speaking on behalf of State Diaspora Focal Point Officers of the Northeast during the programme. My brief remarks conveyed our team’s collective goodwill and appreciation to NiDCOM and the Bauchi State Govt respectively, for organizing the programme to build our capacities, as well for bringing together relevant stakeholders to synergize and collaborate for impactful results from Diaspora engagement. It is gratifying to note that the programme gave birth to the NorthEast SDFPOs Forum Whatsapp Group. The platform is aimed at facilitating constant communication and fostering Diaspora engagement across the Northeast states. This will allow State Diaspora Focal Point Officers of the zone to synergize and share ideas and experiences in pursuit of a common goal.
The 2-Day programme brought together stakeholders comprising Commissioners, State Assembly members, academics, private sector participants, CSOs and the general enthusiastic public. It was concluded with a press briefing led by His Excellency, Governor Bala A. Mohammed. The Governor commended NiDCOM for the initiative and all stakeholders for converging in Bauchi to make the programme a complete success through their full participation.
ALHAJI MODU,fipma
Perm. Sec. (Political)/
Yobe State Diaspora Focal Point Officer,
SSG’s Office.
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