TheNewsGuru

Tag: Abike Dabiri-Erewa

  • Why Nigerians are leaving Nigeria in droves – NiDCOM boss

    Why Nigerians are leaving Nigeria in droves – NiDCOM boss

    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa has identified and listed 5 key reasons why Nigerians are leaving the country in droves.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dabiri-Erewa listed the 5 key reasons at a lecture she delivered on: “Migration, Diaspora and Africa’s Development at the National Defence College for Participants of Course 29 in Abuja.

    Speaking at the event on Wednesday, the NiDCOM boss described migration as a natural phenomenon that cannot be stopped but that managed migration must be encouraged for positive impact on the migrant, the country of origin and the host country.

    She maintained that the diaspora phenomena is the product of legitimate migration, hence the need for regular (legal) migration as opposed to irregular (illegal) migration.

    She further stated that Nigeria is now experiencing the feminisation of migration, a situation where more women are getting involved than men in labour migration.

    She revealed that her Commission was in high level talks with countries, especially those in Europe to mainstream migration issues for a win-win situation for both destination and departure countries.

    The NiDCOM boss listed the 5 key factors driving migration from Nigeria to include: security, economic, environmental, socio- political and other pull and push factors.

    On Nigeria diaspora population, Dabiri-Erewa said that an estimated 17 million Nigerians are scattered all over the world accomplishing excellent feats in medicine, health, high tech, education, economy and many others both to their host countries and country of origin.

    “In 2019 alone, Nigerians in Diaspora remitted about $25billion dollars to shore up the economy,” Dabiri-Erewa said.

    She added that the Commission is ever ready to act as a bridge between Nigeria and its Diasporas to harness the abundant human capital, skills and talents to build a formidable nation

    She gave assurances that the Commission has its contact desks in international and governmental agencies to liaise and speed up intervention processes.

  • NIDCOM not for deportation of Nigerians, says Dabiri-Erewa

    NIDCOM not for deportation of Nigerians, says Dabiri-Erewa

    Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) said on Friday that the commission was not created for the deportation of Nigerians.

    The chief executive officer of the commission said this in a statement by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, NIDCOM’s Head of Media and Public Relations unit.

    Dabiri-Erewa said the malicious reports about the commission were false.

    “Our attention has been drawn to a malicious, mischievous and fabulous story where the leader of the proscribed Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Uchenna Madu, alleged that NIDCOM is the medium used by the Federal Government to forcefully deport persecuted Biafrans.

    “In a statement entitled “security agents killing our members secretly,” the group had alleged that NIDCOM was being used to crack down on its pro-Biafra groups leaders in the diaspora.

    “These and other fabricated stories by the group are false, mischievous and at best another tale by moonlight narrative.

    “NIDCOM, as we know has no such powers nor has such agents of harrasment in Nigeria and in foreign lands.

    “In international relations, the process of deportation is a country to country decision which lies with the country foreign policy within the purview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    “It must be pointed out that most countries are clamping down on irregular immigrants irrespective of their faith, ethnic affiliations,” Balogun said.

    “So, the allegation that the Federal Government is secretly working with some agents of foreign countries to arrest members in diaspora and deport them to Nigeria for persecution and prosecution is a figment of the group’s imagination.

    “Dabiri-Erewa and her commission are for all Nigerians irrespective of their tribe or religious inclinations as enshrined in the Act of the parliament setting up the commission,” he said.

  • Confirmation of Abike Dabiri-Erewa as NDC Chair suffers delay

    The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday failed to confirm Abike Dabiri-Erewa for appointment as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NDC).

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the Senate referred the executive communication requesting her confirmation to the Committee on Diaspora.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Dabiri-Erewa as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDC early November.

    While reading Buhari’s letter to members of the chamber at the plenary, Senate President Bukola Saraki said the President had sought legislative approval for the appointment.

    At resumption of plenary on Wednesday, Senator Ahmad Lawan moved that “Senate do consider the request of Mr. President C-n-C on the confirmation of the nomination of Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa for appointment as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Diaspora Commission in accordance with Section 2(1) of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission (Est, etc) Act, 2017”.

    Senator Emmanuel Bwacha seconds that the Senate do consider the request of Mr. President C-n-C on the confirmation of the nomination of Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa for appointment as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Diaspora Commission.

    However, the executive communication requesting her confirmation was referred to the Committee on Diaspora to report back in 2 weeks.

    TNG reports the confirmation of the nomination of Mrs. Ronke Sokefun for appointment as Chairman of the board of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) also suffered a delay.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki referred the executive communication requesting her confirmation to the Committee on Banking and Insurance to also report back in 2 weeks.

     

  • Nigerian woman commits suicide in Ghana

    Nigerian woman commits suicide in Ghana

    Following the closure of her shops by Ghanaian authorities, a Nigerian woman and mother of three children has committed suicide, the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTs), Ghana Chapter, reported in Abuja on Tuesday.
    The association made the development known when the leadership visited the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, to seek the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter.
    The President of NANTS, Ghana, Chief Chukwuemeka Nnaji, said Mrs Stella Ogonna Okpaleke, a Nigerian whose shops were locked for her failure to meet strict trading conditions put by the Ghana Government committed suicide on Sept. 22.
    Nnaji, armed with a petition to Buhari, called for the intervention of the Federal Government over the alleged maltreatment of Nigerian businessmen in Ghana.
    “Regrettably on Saturday, Sept. 22, one of our female members, Mrs Stella Ogonna Okpaleke, whose shop has been under lock and key by the Ghana authority committed suicide.
    “She committed suicide based on her shop and that of her husband that were locked; the information we gathered was that when they locked the shop she lost hope of reopening it.
    “She is from Nnewi Local Government (Area) in Anambra; we actually don’t know how much she owed, but we learnt that she took loan for her business,” he said.
    According to him, the harassment on the Nigerian community and traders in Kumasi, Ghana, is so severe.
    “It is unfortunate that that very woman decided to take her own life,” Nnaji said and called on Buhari to urgently intervene to avert similar incidents in the future.
    He said Nigerian traders were being unnecessarily stressed by Ghanaian authorities.
    In her remark, Dabiri-Erewa expressed the Federal Government’s condolences to the union and the family of the deceased.
    She appealed to members of the union to remain calm and assured them that the president would intervene in their case to ensure a lasting solution to the problem.
    “I am just going to start by appealing to you, I know it is painful, it is emotional, it is deep but I just urge you to remain calm.
    “I appeal to you to remain calm and may the soul of Stella rest in perfect peace.
    “When she is about to be buried, let us know so that we may send our condolence message to the family,” she said.
    Recall that Nigerian traders were shut out of their business premises in line with an eviction order of July 27.
    The Ghanaian authority is demanding that traders must have one million dollars as minimum foreign investment capital to do business in Ghana as stipulated in its Ministry of Trade and Industry Act, 2013.
     

  • Presidency worries over killing of another Nigerian in S. Africa

    Presidency worries over killing of another Nigerian in S. Africa

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has expressed worry over the killing of another Nigerian in South Africa.

    The Nigeria Mission in South Africa had on Sunday confirmed the killing of Mr Ozumba Tochukwu-Lawrence, by an unknown gunman in the country.

    The Nigeria Consulate-General in South Africa said that the ugly incident was said to have occurred at 10 Koppe, Middleburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa, on July 6.

    The mission said that Lawrence was shot six times by his assailant and died before reaching hospital.

    Dabiri-Erewa in short message sent to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja described the recent killing as unfortunate.

    She said that further enquiry over Nigeria issue with South Africa should be directed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    ”All enquiries should be directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama who has vowed to take decisive action with the new Foreign Affairs Minister in South Africa.”

    Dabiri-Erewa expressed disappointment over an early warning signal put in place by both ministries, which she said, had still not been implemented.

    She stated that no fewer than 117 Nigerians were extra-judicially killed in South Africa between 2016 and 2018 for one flimsy reason or the other.

    She said that many more had followed since then.

    TheNewsGuru reports that killing of Nigerians in South Africa had been on the increase in recent times.

    Before the latest one, there was the assassination of ThankGod Okoro, who was reportedly shot dead in Hamburg, Florida West Rand, Johannesburg, on April 9, 2018, by the South African Police Flying Squad.

    There was also the killing of Clement Nwaogu in April, a father of two who was burnt to death by his assailant.

    These wanton killings of Nigerians in South Africa had sparked a number of protests there.

    For demanding justice on behalf of their fallen compatriots, 14 of the protesters were taken into custody and branded drug peddlers.

     

  • Which Martin Luther King’s family is Buhari’s aide referring to?

    Clarifying the leadership award received by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Buhari on Foreign Relations and Diaspora said the award was on behalf of the Martin Luther King’s family.

    Clarifying, after The King Center had denied the leadership award presentation, Dabiri-Erewa in a statement signed by her Special Assistant (SA) on Media, Abdurrahman Balogun, said, “The members, led by the Matriarch of MLK, Naomi Barbara King, were in Nigeria as part of the activities initiated to celebrate a low-key Black History Month in Nigeria as part of deepening partnership between Africa and its Diaspora”.

    The statement further read that, “As part of the activities, they visited President Muhammadu Buhari and gave him a commemorative plaque for his fight against corruption and what they termed from the “Africania Diaspora” a term for Africans in Diaspora for which the oldest of them all Naomi Barbara King was selected to present on behalf of the family (NOT MLK CENTER) as a sign of appreciation to the Nigerian President”.

    The King Center, established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King, wife of renowned American activist Martin Luther King Jr. had said neither the Center nor Mrs. Coretta Scott King nor the children of Martin Luther King Jr. approved any award presentation to Buhari.

    “The award given to President Buhari of Nigeria was not given by The King Center, at the request of The King Center or by the children of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King,” the Center stated in a tweet on its official Twitter handle.

    Owing to the fact that Dabiri-Erewa’s clarification is coming after The King Center denied the award, it becomes imperative to ask which Martin Luther King she is referring to in her statement.

    If Dabiri-Erewa is referring to Martin Luther King Jr., then Naomi Barbara King, as quoted in her statement, cannot be referred to as Matriarch of Martin Luther King Jr. family, and as such cannot present an award on behalf of Martin Luther King Jr.’s family

    Mrs. Naomi Ruth Barber King (Dr.) is wife of Alfred Daniel Williams “A. D.” King, who is the youngest son of Martin Luther King Sr., and so, Naomi Barbara King can be said to be Matriarch of Alfred Daniel Williams “A. D.” King’s family.

    However, she can also be said to be a Matriarch of Martin Luther King Sr.’s family, if the Martin Luther King, Dabiri-Erewa is referring to, is Martin Luther King Sr.

    Mrs. Naomi Ruth Barber King (Dr.) is the founder of A. D. King Foundation that was established in 2008.

     

  • Gambia Crisis: FG on standby to evacuate Nigerians – Dabiri-Erewa

    Gambia Crisis: FG on standby to evacuate Nigerians – Dabiri-Erewa

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government is ‘on standby’ to evacuate Nigerians in the Gambia if the need arises.

    This is following the refusal of President Yahaya Jammeh to step down after losing the country’s last Presidential election.

    Against this backdrop, Dabiri-Erewa, while responding to a Twitter user’s question stated that Nigeria was prepared to relocate its citizens should the need arise.

    See Dabiri’s tweet to a curious Nigerian’s request below: