By Paul Effiong, Abuja
House of Representatives has disclosed its readiness to remove all beurocratic bottlenecks hindering patriotic contributions from Nigerians resident abroad through a legislative framework.
The House also promised to ensure the immediate passage of bills to allow Nigerians living abroad exercise their civil right through voting.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas disclosed this yesterday while declaring open, a stakeholders engagement on Diaspora Governance, NiSDEDIG 2025, at the National Assemply in Abuja.
Represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Health Institution, Patrick Umoh, Speaker Abbas pledged his readiness to strengthen legislative diplomacy with Nigerians living abroad.
The event, which was organised by the House Committee on Diaspora, also witnessed the launching of NiDRES Application/Web App under the theme, ‘Legislative-Executive Partnership in Diaspora Governance-Hamonising Working.’
In his welcome remarks, Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora, Tochukwu Okere reaffirmed the National Assembly’s commitment to strengthen Nigeria’s diaspora governance framework.
Okere informed that the event was designed to align laws and policies alongside institutional actions for better coordination of diaspora affairs, even as he asssured of improved access to welfare, consular and investment services for Nigerians living abroad.
Highlighting key innovations of the project, the chairman said NiDRes is a digital platform aimed at connecting government more effectively with Nigerian citizens abroad.
The tool, he informed, would enable seamless incident reporting and case tracking, emergency assistance including investment engagement through a secure and user friendly interface.
He therefore called on key stakeholders to contribute ideas and solutions that would strengthen diaspora participation in national development, while pledging his committee’s readiness to foster a result-oriented partnership between the legislature and the executive for the benefit of Nigerians at home, as well as those overseas.
In her welcome address, the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa reaffirmed her commission’s pivotal role as the interface between Nigeria and its diaspora community, even as she highlighted the remarkable achievements of the agency under her stewardship.
Dabiri-Erewa also commended the committee for its efforts in sustaining legislative interest in diaspora governance, noting that Nigeria has over 20 million citizens abroad who are not just remitting funds home, but contributing to national development across key sectors such as health, education, ICT, agriculture, housing among others.
“The Nigerian diaspora continues to excel globally while investing their knowledge and resources to drive the country’s growth and modernisation,” she explained.
The former lawmaker also listed the National Diaspora Policy which she said is Diaspora Data Mapping Portal with over 70,000 registrants worldwide, Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit, as well as the Presidential Town Hall Meetings as major milestones.
She maintained that diaspora remittances remain the nation’s highest source of foreign exchange, maintaining that Nigerians abroad are contributing over $20 billion annually, more than oil revenue.
Dabiri-Erewa stressed that NiDCOM’s mission is to transform the former narrative of “brain drain” into “brain gain with the diaspora community currently emerging as a strong pillar of Nigeria’s socio-economic renewal.
