By Salisu Ibrahim
For over six years now, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, under Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa has been run like a man walking with one leg. The Commission focuses mostly on the West, leaving behind the other leg — Africa.
While African Continent has been left behind, offices, webinars, and town halls are routinely organized for Nigerians in the US, UK, and Canada. Nigerians trading in Ghana, building businesses in South Africa, and those studying in Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and a host of others, get very little attention from the Commission. This is why the Commission must focus on Africa, not just the West.
Regrettably, the Commission’s engagement within Africa remains largely reactive — dominated by crisis response, consular protection, and xenophobia mitigation, rather than focusing on development model.
If NiDCOM’s mandate is truly about “all Nigerians in diaspora,” then that grave imbalance must end immediately. The Commission must rebalance toward Africa and the Middle East, where the largest number of Nigerian people also live, work, and invest.
When NiDCOM was created, its main objective was to be the bridge between Nigeria and its people abroad. Right now, that bridge only goes west. It is therefore time to rebalance the Diaspora Mandate Toward Africa, the Middle East and end the Western bias. From remittances to trade, Nigerians in Ghana, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Kenya deserve the same attention as those in the US and UK.
One wonders why the commission’s energy, budget lines, and high-profile engagements are glaringly tilted toward Europe and America. Meanwhile, just across our borders, Nigerians in Accra, Johannesburg, and Nairobi face deportations, xenophobia, and trade barriers with little institutional backup from the Commission.
A diaspora commission that ignores its closest neighbors is just walking with one leg. It is time to rebalance the mandate and put Africa at the center.
Instead of appearing as Africa-centered without losing global impact, the Commission seems to be working with greater emphasis on activities in the West to the detriment of African unity and growth. In the past six years, the Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa led Commission—has tilted more to the West, but time is not lost yet for it to change focus and address the narrative gap.
The most evident fact is that, NiDCOM is currently facing a strategic narrative gap, particularly as its engagement within Africa remains largely reactive, crisis response dominated, lacking consular protection, addressing xenophobia mitigation, rather than working on a development model.
It is time the Commission redress this Global-African Imbalance and align its operations with strategic economic priorities without sacrificing global financial flows.
An Expert on International Affairs, Malam Sarki Muhammad observed that, the tragedy is very clear: Focusing largely on the West indicates how the Commission prefer the West against African Countries. The Commission almost exclusively focus on crisis management, evacuations, anti-xenophobia efforts, and consular protection within Africa, instead of focusing on pure development matters.
With the current development, NiDCOM must transition from a reactive posture in Africa to a.more proactive, development-focused model.
As observed by Malam Sarki Muhammad: “If the Commission can make a few key structural shifts alongside a deliberate communications reset, NiDCOM can maintain its global reach for resources while anchoring deeper, stronger roots across the African continent, by rebalancing its mandate with an African heart.”
Salisu Ibrahim, former NASS, State House Correspondent writes from Kano. Could be reached on faccageltd10@gmail.com
