The Director-General (DG) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was a guest at a webinar to celebrate the National Diaspora Day on Sunday.
She spoke on the need for Nigerians both at home and abroad to continue to make positive contributions through investments in Nigeria in other to impact the nation’s economy to bring about peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.
She made this comment during the webinar event organized in Abuja by the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM). The event objective was to celebrate the achievements of the organisation since inception till date.
The DG also commended the Nigerians in the diaspora for their huge contributions to the nation’s economy. She made particular reference to how remittances from Nigerians abroad have helped bring about developments in the rural areas and the sustenance of the Nigerian economy in general.
The theme of the event was “Diaspora Integration for National Peace and Development”. According to the organisers, the event was also anchored on the pedals of peace that would help quicken the engagement of Nigerians in the diaspora for national growth and development.
The Commission noted at the event that Nigeria needs the atmosphere of peace and security to succeed, noting that no nation, not even Nigeria can make progress as a nation in an atmosphere anchored on insecurity, hatred and divisive tendencies.
”Let me applaud fellow Nigerians in the Diaspora because they are contributing so much, in many ways; the remittance that the Diaspora send home is in millions of dollars which has contributed in sustaining our economy.
“It helps people living in the rural areas to get resources to send their children to school, take care of their health, build and run businesses, but we can do more wherever we are in the Diaspora, for there’s no place like home.
“So, what we should be thinking of is how we can help to make things better wherever we are, be it in the village or the town to make things better at home, either through creating employment, business, a civil society organisation, or helping to support what the local government is trying to do.
“This is what helps to create peace and I am not saying that is all of it, but the fact remains that there are so many young people who do not have jobs and the COVID-19 situation had made that worse with the lockdown.
“I think we should be thinking of what we can do to help improve the economic situation of people at home because that’s what helps to bring peace.
“If we did not have so many disoriented and disorganised unemployed youths , some of the activities that we see at home that are detrimental towards peace and security might not happen,” she said.
