The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has called for a stronger partnership between intelligent Nigerian and Indian professionals in the Diaspora, stressing that such a partnership has the potential to transform the world.
The NIDCOM boss made this call during the commemoration of the 2020 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Indians in Diaspora day) and World Hindi Day, held at the Indian High Commission in Abuja on Thursday.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is observed on January 9 to mark the return of Indian icon Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa as well as recognising Indians in the Diaspora.
Dabiri-Erewa noted that Nigerians and Indians in the Diaspora are the best crop of experts in various fields of human endeavour, adding that more had to be done to enhance and exploit the human capital components of those living in the Diaspora.
She recalled that Nigerian doctors are known to be among the best in their countries of residence, stressing that if Nigerian medical doctors abroad could bring their knowledge and expertise back to the country, it would reduce the rush by Nigerians to seek medical tourism abroad.
Dabiri-Erewa said further that Nigeria has a lot to learn from India, which has recorded remarkable achievements by its Diaspora citizens. She added that Nigeria also had a lot to learn from India in terms of how it had successfully handled the affairs of its nationals in Diaspora.
“There is a lot to learn from what you have done with your Diaspora. When I became chairman of NIDCOM, the first high commission I decided to visit was the Indian High commission to learn from India.
“What I have learnt from India has helped us in the task of setting up of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission and we will continue to come to you to learn more from you.
“The Indian Diaspora is a bridge to the world. We also have a Nigerian Diaspora that is also a bridge to the world but we know that we have a lot to do.
“Imagine those two teams of Diaspora coming together, the Indian Diaspora, the Nigerian Diaspora; I believe they can change the world.
“So that partnership I hope we continue to build with you, work with you as we continue to engage on the issue of our Diaspora human capital development.
“In terms of Medical Tourism, we have almost 5,000 doctors in America alone and if our doctors in Diaspora alone do what the Indian Diasporas have done in India, we would change the history of medical tourism in Nigeria.
“Talking about remittances, we also have a Nigerian Diaspora contributing last year about 25 million dollars to the Nigerian economy.
“And we also want to put in place a lot of incentives to make the Nigerian Diaspora do as much as the Indian Diaspora has done,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur, in his remarks, said that India had the largest Diaspora in the world at almost 31 million with more than 50,000 living in Nigeria. He added that the Indian Government appreciates the contributions of Indians living abroad and had made elaborate effort to continue to tap into the creative potentials of the Indians in the Diaspora.
According to him, it is a thing of great pride that many multinational operations are headed by young Indians which include Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Ajay Banga of Mastercard, Geeta Gopinath of IMF, among others.
The High Commissioner said that Indian Prime Minister Neranda Modi’s administration had reinvigorated the Government’s commitments with Indians living abroad through several programmes.
He added that programmes had been put in place to enable Indians in Diaspora to enjoy every benefit as citizens still living in India such as the Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC), the Know India Programme (KIP).
“We have an Indian Community Welfare Fund for carrying out welfare activities for distressed overseas Indians.
“In 2019, the High Commission together with efforts of the Ministry of Shipping, India and the Nigerian Authorities secured the release of over five Indian nationals kidnapped from the ship in April and December 2019.
“The Indian Diaspora in Nigeria has been active with the presence of over 135 Indian-owned companies which are said to be the second-largest employer of labour after the Federal Government of Nigeria itself,” Thakur said.
