Abike Dabiri

"You know that Mr. President cannot go to Parliament and say, you must do this; you must do that. He has said it severally that he is not against diaspora voting."

"It’s about inter-agency collaboration. It is massive awareness. But I was surprised that somebody said to me last week that they went to somewhere they didn’t know; we have to get all those trying to hide under ‘we didn’t know.."

"Definitely, we can’t pretend that everything is perfect. This insecurity, by the grace of God, is a temporary thing with everything being put in place by the government."

"Ukraine, which also will answer the question in terms of how much spent on evacuation. I really can’t answer the question, because I don’t deal with money. All I know is that we didn’t receive one Kobo for evacuation whether it’s Ukraine, whether it’s South Africa, or Libya. NIDCOM, as an organization, did not get one kobo."

"...You go to Indonesia, carry drugs, do cultism and come begging to be rescued from death sentence. Thank God for @ndlea_nigeria now saving people like you from death row."

"This happened Saturday, as a result of a fracas, during a football match between African and Indian Students. The Nigerian mission immediately took custody of 86 Nigerian students, invited the representatives of the Indian government, got their commitment to ensuring the safety of the students who have reportedly fled the school after an altercation with their Indian counterparts."

"It is a fact that Nigerian diasporas have the global exposure, resources, competences, and skills as well as the passion and linkages to be a catalysts for national development."

"We are appealing to parliament to look at the issue of Diaspora voting because Nigerians are across the world. President Muhammadu Buhari is on board, but the ball is in the lawmaker’s court."

"As a new organization, it has been challenging but we give God the glory, having had very amazing people to work with, we have been able to set the issue of diaspora on the front burner, although there is a lot more to do especially regarding diaspora voting which I hope the next parliament will put on the front burner."

"One of the initiatives focuses on investments because a lot of people in the diaspora have been sending money which sometimes disappears and nothing happens but through the initiative we guide them. We have a regular forum whereby they come together and Nigerians abroad are putting a lot of investments in the healthcare sector, agriculture, food business, education, ICT and we put all the figures together."

"Firstly, information is key and these countries have stronger rules and regulations guiding them which can even be found online. For instance in Dubai from a certain age range especially for men, the rules are very stringent. Also if you apply for a family visa and go without a family, you will be turned back."

"We look for platforms where they can make profitable investments in the country and we are here to guide them, most importantly, this is home for them and they will return at some point. We have a program where we target the younger generation of Nigerians abroad, they walk into this office with so much passion about their country, looking at what can be done to make improvements."

"Funding is the biggest challenge but it has not deterred us and that is one of the many reasons I am proud of our staff who have just been putting the best work into the commission. However, I do not complain about money because if you do, you will not get anything done but as we are growing at the commission, we need to be creative and we are already doing that."