…From Dele Ogunyemi, Ibadan…
Barely three weeks after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unveiled its time-table for the 2015 general elections, the Nigerian community in the Diaspora has reeled out plans of action to get involved, more effectively, in the national polity.
At a press conference in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, over the weekend, the Chairman of the Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom (CANUK), Chief Bimbo Roberts Folayan lamented that “for so long a time, the Nigerian Diasporans have been marginalized in the scheme of things by subsequent governments in the country.”
To ameliorate the negative trends, Chief Folayan disclosed that the Nigerian Diasporans have started brainstorming on how to really bring a positive change to the national polity.
To this end, he said, “right now, CANUK has started mobilizing all Nigerian Mayors, Nigerian members of Parliament and all Nigerian politicians in the Labour and Conservative in the UK, to contribute their wealth of experience to improve on the polity in Nigeria their home country.”
His words: “In the UK, we currently have four Mayors of Nigerian origin. We have about 40 Nigerian councilors, almost equivalent of members of our House of Representatives. We have three members of Parliament. We have Chairmen of Constituencies. We have Nigerians who are doing well in the UK. As they have gained so well from that system, we need to have a transitional programme or process that will enable them to contribute to their own country too.
“We have people with knowledge, people that can bring in added value to join to what you are currently doing in Nigeria to make things happen. And that is what the Nigerian Diaspora Direct Investment Summit (NDDIS) is all about. We want to start to help the Nigerian masses here indirectly If we, as Nigerians in Diaspora start to provide jobs for ordinary Nigerians through creation of small-scale businesses, we will be in a position one day when we will tell Nigerians ‘this is the way you should go’ and they will go there. They will listen to us because we would have built the credibility and there will be trust for Nigerians in Diaspora that they love their country.
“What we have realized is that mere talking to Government has not really changed much on the system. You can say anything to the government, if they are not going to act, they will not act unless they know you have the power. And this is why we are going through the economic process to effect a positive change in the system. We want to win the hearts of Nigerians and, in fact, this is one of the reasons for the second edition of the Nigerian Diaspora Direct Investment Summit coming up in London in April this year. The theme of the investment summit is ‘Mining and the Diaspora – Nigeria’s Unexploited Wealth Opportunities.”