The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission is yet to have a permanent office, five years after coming into existence, NewsSpecng learnt.
The staffs,, according to the Secretary to the Commission, Mr. Sule Bassi are scattered in three different locations.
Besides, Bassi said the Commission is grappling with paucity of fund.
He disclosed this on Thursday, while announcing the fifth anniversary of the Commission, which incidentally was on the 9th May, 2024.
Bassi received a delegation from Zambia who are in the country on a study basis on processes and procedures of NiDCOM.
NiDCOM was established in 2019 by an Act of the National Aseembly
The Commission, provide for the engagement of Nigerians in Diaspora in the policies, projects and participation in the development of Nigeria and for the purpose of utilising the human capital and material resources of Nigerians in Diaspora towards the overall socio-economic, cultural and political development of Nigeria and for related matters.
NiDCOM has since inception been supported by small funding from government and a lot of goodwill from partners like IOM and others and even from the Diasporans themselves. So, funding is a glhuge issue. So when you are setting up a new stricture, it is quite a challenging task.”
He went on, ” Like you see, we are here squatting in the Federal Secretariat amd our staff are in three different locations in Abuja.
” We don’t have an office for the Nigerians in Diaspora yet and that has not stopped us from taking off.”
He said the issue of migration has come to stay but what was needed is the ability to manage it effectively for economic development of the country.
Reacting, Mr Tunde Omoyeni, Regional Project Coordinator, International Organisation for Migration, said unlike in Nigeria where you have migration outside the shores of the continent, in Zambia what is predominant is intra-migration, which is within South African countries.
He said the team from Zambia was therefore in Nigeria to learn how they can maximise the potential of their diasporans.
He said, migration remains an evolving area of development l, so delegation would be looking at one or two lessons it can take back home.
He stressed, ” When migration is well managed it can be good for development “
