- ‘Diaspora Commission’ll Attract $100bn to Nigeria Annually’
A former President of the All Nigerians American Congress, Chief Temitope Ajayi, has said that Nigerians in the Diaspora and a technology and agricultural giant, Silicon Valley of the United States, will be investing over $100bn annually in the country’s economy with the establishment of the Diaspora Commission.
She stated that the Nigerians living abroad were remitting about $52bn annually in the past.
Ajayi, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian American Agricultural Empowerment Programme, stated in an interview with our correspondent in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Friday, that the signing into law of the Diaspora Commission Act by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had provided a veritable mechanism to accelerate foreign direct investments into Nigeria.
She stated that the Diaspora Commission Act had boosted the confidence of Nigerians abroad to increase their investments and also attract more FDI to Nigeria.
According to Ajayi, who was a member of the 2014 National Conference, the commission will reduce the frustration, bureaucracy and bottlenecks that citizens in the Diaspora usually encounter while trying to bring foreign investors into Nigeria.
She commended Osinbajo, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan; a former Ambassador of Nigeria to the United States, Prof Jubril Aminu; a former Under-Secretary of the United Nations, Prof. Agboola Gambari; a former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, late Adebowale Adefuye; members of the National Confab; and a former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora and current Senior Special Assistant to President on Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, for their efforts in the conceptualisation and establishment of the Diaspora Commission.
She stated that Nigeria was blessed with abundant agricultural potential, which should be harnessed and maximised for internal food security, export and national development.