The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has revealed that Nigerians living abroad spent about N60 billion during their visits to the country in December 2024.
She disclosed this at a budget defense with the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora at the National Assembly.
Dabiri-Erewa informed that remittances alone in the last five years have exceeded $90 billion and described the expenditure as a testament to the diaspora’s growing impact on the Nigerian economy.
The chairman commended the contributions of diaspora Nigerians and their growing enthusiasm for investing and engaging in nation-building.
According to her, the commission has, in the last five years, made significant strides by thinking outside the box and prioritizing the diaspora population.
“You know, we’ve reached a stage where in the last five years, we’ve shown that the diaspora is a powerful force and resource, and we can not ignore them.
“And, you know, they are the number one ambassadors of our country. They will help us change the narrative of our country.
“In fact, all over the world, everybody now wants to have a Nigerian as a friend. So let’s seize the moment. We can take over the world, and we will.
“President Bola Tinubu has brought in reforms that everybody should support. Tackling insecurity, building infrastructure, and taking the hard decisions that will make Nigeria a better place. So it’s very simple.
“We have 17 million of them. And how much did this generate for the growth of the economy? Remittances alone in the last five years have been over $90 billion. This December, of course, you know, it is not less than N60 billion in what they spent coming to Nigeria. It could grow, but it is just scratching the surface”, she submitted.
Dabiri-Erewa observed that the large influx of diaspora Nigerians in December 2024 was the result of years of consistent interaction and engagement with the community.
The NIDCOM boss explained that the commission is exploring innovative funding strategies, including working with the National Assembly Committee on Diaspora to enhance its financial capacity.
Dabiri-Erewa also proposed the establishment of a Diaspora Plaza, which she said would serve as a hub for Nigerians abroad to connect, engage with government officials, and learn about opportunities within the country.
She said: “I hosted them. In fact, I didn’t rest in December. My house turned into a hosting venue because they were all coming.
And I was seeing one of them, particularly those young Nigerians. They have money to invest, and they are willing to.
“Some of them are getting into local communities, local businesses. Even now, the most impressive one that we worked with, wants to start training young people in digital technology.
“What we haven’t done, which we’ll do this year, is put it in a document. So we can truly appreciate what the diaspora has done.”
Responding, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Diaspora, Senator Victor Umeh, expressed reservations about Nigeria’s readiness for diaspora voting.
Umeh noted that Nigeria must first tackle the challenges confronting its own electoral process before thinking of extending such rights to Nigerians in Diaspora.
He warned that allowing Nigerians in the diaspora to vote without reliable data and systems in place could have grave consequences.
According to him, “It is a question I answered both in Canada and South Africa where I met Nigerians there. We must tell ourselves the truth. We must get properly organised before we open up to people voting from outside Nigeria. Let’s manage our own elections at home first before we add diaspora voting.
“Yes, we are preparing for it. But I’m saying that we need to create an enabling environment for it to succeed. The NIDCOM is doing everything possible to capture Nigerians in the diaspora to know how many of them are living outside and then document them, those in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and so on.
“We need to know where they are so that the data will be reliable before you expose them to elections.
“If you are not prepared with your data that is reliable, you can finish all the elections in Nigeria, and you say, I’m waiting for votes that will come from America. Somebody will throw three million votes from there or from Asia, and before you know it, the courts will not have peace.
“Then you continue to struggle to prove those votes. However, gradually, when we get to that level of confidence, we can give them an opportunity to start voting from outside.”
Umeh, while stressing the need to support NIDCOM financially to enable it to continue engaging the diaspora effectively, assured that the committee will fight for an increase in funds for the commission in the 2025 budget
According to him, the diaspora community is important to Nigeria, adding that those living abroad are exposed to advanced cultures and more efficient ways of doing things.
He said: “Funding has been the problem of NIDCOM, and we are determined as a parliament to support them and help them.
“In the 2024 appropriation, the provisions were very poor. The National Assembly worked hard to add something to their budget. This year again, we have seen how they operated last year under difficult circumstances, and again, we’re going to make moves for them, and we’ll call on Mr. President to pay particular attention to the diaspora community.
“Some of them are itching to come here and become part of the political process. Some of them want to vote, even from the diaspora, to show you how interested they are in their country. We need to encourage them by way of making it possible for them to come here and invest their money, make profits, and then continue to help us develop our own economy because they are very versatile.
“So this diaspora community needs to be fully explored and tapped into by the government of Nigeria. For the leadership of the NIDCOM, you covered our proceedings today, and you saw that everybody was satisfied with the efforts they are making and expressed the desire to support her to do more. So it is for us in the Parliament, both the House of Reps and the Senate, to come together and see how we can improve on their budget.
“Such an important organization can not be left looking for money to be able to move, because the diaspora is international, it’s not local. For it to be able to succeed, you need to be mobile. We’re flying out, going from country to country, looking for these great Nigerians that are out there to make them look homewards.”
