By Ajibola Abayomi,
The Nigeria Diaspora Project 40/40 has explained why the body is poised to showcase stories and contributions of Nigerians in Diaspora at a global summit slated for Nigeria on October 2 in Lagos at the CMD Conference Hall, Magodo.
The development became imperative according to the body giving the important roles the diasporans have been playing in the progress of nation’s economy.
However, the NGA Project 40/40 through its media unit was quick to emphasize that it was high time a reflection on the good, ugly and bad sides of the struggles of Nigerians abroad were brought to bear in order to reshape the nature of emigration from Nigeria to increase the consciousness about regular migration and also to promote the relevance of the diaspora contributions as a key factor in nation building.
In a statement issued by the Media Adviser of the Project, Ajibola Abayomi who doubles as the President of the Journalists International Forum For Migration (JIFORM), he explained that the “NGA Diaspora Project 40/40 is a social impact and creative Diaspora Engagement Initiative with the sole aim of bridging the existing gap between Nigerians at home and abroad.
“We are leveraging on the symbolism of the number 40 to inspire a new narrative for Nigeria and Nigerians in general. The 40/40 represents 40 years of the “Nigerian emigration trends between 1981 – 2021.
“The initiative seeks to highlight the major wave of emigration history of the Nigerian Diaspora specifically narrowing it to between 1981 to 2021 out of which 40 stories about the good, the bad and the ugly diasporans would be crowd-sourced within the Nigerian Diaspora community across the world.
The stories would highlight lessons learnt, facilitate and amplify awareness on the available opportunities through shared experiences on regular migration and tips on best practices for the young Nigerians to copy.”
Ajibola harped on the goals of NGA Project 40/40 to include: “Championing of advocacy on safe, regular and orderly migration; collate and share both the good and challenging stories of Nigerians in diaspora, celebrate their good side manifesting in remittances, investments, brain regain and sharing best practices learned abroad; recognize the bold steps taken by them to improve Nigeria through the provision of infrastructures with support on investments and bridge the existing gap between the diasporas and fellow citizens at home”.
The Simulcast/Hybrid Diaspora Global Conference to be streamed live in Austria, Belgium/Luxemburg chapters of Nigeria In Diaspora Organization Europe (NIDOE) will feature speakers that include Dr. Andrew S. Nevin, Ph.D (Partner & Chief Economist) PwC Nigeria; Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, MD/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM); Mr. Kingsley Aikins, the CEO of The Networking Institute, Ireland; Mr. Kabir Mohammed, Director Learning & Development; Centre for Management Development (CMD) and Mr. Abiodun Odunuga, the Vice President of Friends of Nigeria (FON, France).
The programme schedules also has launch of an autobiography on one of the founding members of NIDOE Austria, Oluyemi Ogundele, and other publications.
The Project 40/40 and the Global Diaspora Conference is proudly sponsored and supported by Middlechase Property Ltd and Brandcomms International, MADphilips Development Company Ltd.
Other collaborators and strategic partners are NiDCOM, Centre for Management Development (CMD), JIFORM, Ecobank PLC, Wakaati TV, The Networking Institute, Everbill GmbH, Knowledge City, Creative Options and Oga Landlord Property Ltd.
Registration for the event is FREE. Click on the link below to register now https://ngadiasporaproject4040.com/event-registration
