President Bola Tinubu said on Tuesday that the government would make sure Nigerians living abroad are part of the policy-making process.
He added that this would help deepen democracy in the country and ensure his administration enjoys the needed support from Nigerians in the diaspora.
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, the President at the 2023 National Diaspora Day in Abuja, Tinubu noted that Diaspora support and contributions to national development were key.
Tinubu said,
“Our country is emerging into a new dawn of dedicated efforts to ensure national development guarantees peace and promote prosperity for all our nation’s people.
“The ambition we have in this regard cannot be fully realised without the support, contribution, and participation of our brothers and sisters all over the world.
“As such, all deliberate efforts will be made in this administration to ensure that Nigerians in the diaspora community are involved in designing, implementing, and reviewing public policies, plans, and programmes.
“May I also let you know that this new democratically elected government is a Diaspora-friendly one. This will provide an enabling platform for effective policies for the Diaspora with the view to galvanizing support for the new administration and concretising our democracy, setting an example for other African countries to emulate.”
Speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Adamu Lamuwa, stated that Nigerians in the diaspora must be sustained towards achieving a developed country.
Lamuwa stated,
“We have entered a new phase of consolidating diaspora engagement to promote national development.
“This momentum must be sustained even in a dynamic world to bring about the rapid development of our great nation.”
In her remarks, the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa said,
“Our theme is not only appropriate but a summary of the entire mandate of NiDCOM which is to engage and harness the talent, skills, resources and global exposure of Nigerians in the Diaspora for national development.
“Our interactions with the Diaspora community during this year’s National Diaspora Day celebrations, therefore are expected to mobilise the Diaspora to key into some of the programmes of the government and to chart improved and better ways on how to achieve the positive results for national development within the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of the government.”