THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Nigerians in the Diaspora will converge on the British capital in July to mark this year’s Diaspora Day, the first time the event will be held outside Nigeria.
The Governing Council of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Worldwide (NIDOWW) has announced that the Nigerian Diaspora Day will take place on 26-28 July in London. It’s the first time that the annual event will take place outside Nigeria.
According to a press statement of NIDOWW, after an extra-ordinary meeting on Sunday 25 March, “the cornerstone for a new era of a global Nigerian Diaspora stakeholders partnership for national development will be laid at the 3-day conference when the representatives of the over 22 million Nigerians in the Diaspora gather to retool a Diaspora Engagement Development Action Plan for Nigeria”.
This historic decision to host the Nigerian Diaspora Global Conference 2018 (Diaspora Day) outside Nigeria, after many weeks and months of high-powered deliberations and consultations, is part of NIDO’s overall strategy to “rekindle once again the Diaspora indomitable spirit”, the statement said.
The Diaspora Day 2018 will “examine the urgent important matters that concern all Nigerians outside Nigeria and present an opportunity for strategic cooperation, networking and synergy between NIDO on the one hand and the Federal Government and other sister Nigerian Diaspora Groups on the other”.
NIDOWW’s Governing Council also agreed that all projects already submitted in Abuja at the event last year will still be considered and continental bodies are encouraged to send one or two delegates to present such projects in London.
The organisation’s decision to hold the in event outside Nigeria is to relieve the Federal Government of the financial burden of hosting the Day as usual in Abuja. “With this historic decision, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation is demonstrating its solidarity with Nigerians and the Federal Government considering the current economic situation in the country,” the statement said. “We believe that the usual budget for the organization of the yearly Diaspora Day should be invested in youth empowerment and employment generation.”
The decision of NIDO Worldwide to hold the Diaspora Day 2018 has received the support of sister organisations such as the Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom, the Nigeria Diaspora Alumni Network, the Association of Nigerian-American Professionals in Nigeria, the All Nigerian Nationals in Diaspora and the Nigerian and Canadian Business Network.
The issues that will be deliberated upon in London and on which NIDO will take positions include:
- Nigeria Diaspora Voting Right
- Leadership and Good Governance
- Diaspora Enrolment and Global Diaspora Database
- Diaspora Housing Investment Fund
- Diaspora Remittance and national development
NIDOWW is calling on Nigerian organisations in the Diaspora to actively participate in the activities marking the Diaspora Day 2018.
Femi Awoniyi
Nigerian Diaspora Day 2018
Date: 25-27 July 2018
Venue: London
Contact: Mr Abiodun Ogunsakin (General Secretary – NIDO Europe),
Coordinating General Secretary – NIDO Worldwide
Email: secretariat@nidoeurope.org
Registration: http://www.nidoeurope.org/diasporaconference/
