Chairman House Committee on Nigerians in the Diaspora, Hon. Rita Oji says World Bank investigation shows that over $25 billion was remitted home by Nigerians in the Diaspora. A lawyer, she was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in 2015 to represent Ajegunle, Lagos where she grew up. She spoke on other issues, including what many didn’t know about Ajegunle in this encounter in London. Excerpts.
You mentioned Ajegunle and looking at your profile, we found that you have actually done a lot of things within the local community and the people really fancy and support it; could this be one of the reason that people really need to build in order for them to go into politics?
Hon. Rita Orji
This is the most neglected local government and is referred to as a suburb in Lagos, Nigeria. People of our class living there know that this not a suburb, this is just about pain and they are suffering neglect.
Let me quickly ask you this question, you are now the chairman of the Diaspora committee which was handled by another person; how can you transfer or rather attract the Diaspora to support the administration and Nigerian development?
When you want to take issues like that you go to relevant stages and amend the electoral acts that will enable electronic voting to take place. And this Government and present administration knows that the Diaspora played a very important aspect of the economy. Nigerians in the Diaspora are one wonderful entity that no government will want to do away with!
You mentioned the Diaspora commission bill, does it mean that the Diaspora bill has not been officially passed?
It was not assented to, meaning the commission has not been officially passed and, it died with the last 7th assembly. But when you bring it back, it will move from the assembly to relevant places.
One of the biggest challenge for Nigerians in the Diaspora is the voting right
You know we are already late in this kind of voting; Algeria has done that and a couple of other countries have done that but we must have legislation that will enable us to get data of Nigerians. It might not be an electronic voting; you might vote in the Nigerian High Commission building; and you tap your results from there. But there is no data. I was at the Nigerian High Commission and it was very appalling, even there is no accurate data of Nigerians in the UK. How are we going to talk about voting, or are we going to use other nations?
So, we are creating a portal where Nigerians in UK can register. I found out that a lot of things are happening here in the UK and the High Commission doesn’t even know about it. So, I am going to work directly with NIDO. We will work diligently with NIDO; every other professional body would come under NIDO. As you mentioned NIDO, is the official umbrella for Nigerians in the Diaspora. Technically, people will say there are more than 1 million Nigerians in UK and over 10 million Nigerians around the world; would it not be good even if we get 10% of those interested to be on the data, because we do have Nigerians with mixed nationalities, how would you like to mix the two facts together?
Our constitution allows dual citizenship. So every Nigerian no matter the passport you are carrying, you have a right to decide to vote. Even if we don’t have a restriction on nationality, they can enjoy that, but my problem is this, there must be a framework, that in any case, like Nigerians in UK are supposed to harness their brain and intelligence and push on. I am here on investigation, I have been here for a couple of days and people don’t know, I have gone to various oppositions, met human-rights, lawyers, Home Office, Nigeria High Commission etc. There are salient questions, the Nigeria High Commission and the Nigeria government have to answer.
But we believe that we have wonderful Nigerians here and we tend to harness that potential by bringing them under an umbrella that would feel their impact. Their impact is needed and is important. I refer to them as my pride, I refer to them as first class citizens wherever they reside, and they have Nigerian blood in them. We don’t give up. That is why you see wherever they Nigerians are; they are doing wonderfully well, no matter the hard conditions they find themselves. No matter the restrictions, hard policies, draconian laws trying to push them down from their real self they still survive, because we don’t give up, we believe in ourselves. So every Diaspora is my pride wherever they are. I adore them because the state they are living in, an ordinary person couldn’t have coped and yet they are succeeding.
I am saying that the priority of the 8th assembly is to make sure that the stars which they are must be allowed to shine; because you don’t need to struggle to shine if you are a star. We just need to create an enabling environment and allow them to come into existence and I don’t doubt they are going to do well.
Another interest for the Diaspora is the yearly Diaspora Day which normally takes place in July every year, but last year it was in August. How would you like your new office to manage it, because most of the time the staff working on it plan it (last minute) instead of working and planning it ahead and then per grouping based on their professional attribute and characters. How would you like to see this galvanised for the benefit of Nigeria?
I am not a partying person. I am not a person that is good in social partying or coming to dance. If there isn’t a reason for doing Diaspora Day then it shouldn’t be done but if there must be a reason for doing a Diaspora Day, it must reflect on gains, on vision, ideology and mission statement. So it will take a different shape.
These wonderful Nigerians must have a theme that when we are celebrating, there must be an achievement that would be rolled out on that day, such as; what the Nigerians in the Diasporas have done either in their host country or in their home country; that these are the facilities they have put in place; that this is the joint venture investment they have entered with the government, the money they have put in place; that these are the things they have done from Jan-June, and we are celebrating it, and that is the only way to celebrate. That this is what they have achieved and what they intend to do in the final part of the year and all the professionals would come together.
Should they now look towards your office as the House Committee chairman to communicate and will they get you because now as Chairman House Committee on Nigerians in the Diaspora, we expect to call your office, for the phone to ring and someone to say welcome to the Diaspora office.
Those that know me very well even in my constituency, will tell you that I pick up my calls. Its only when am in the plenary that you can’t get me because of the session, there may not be network. I may leave my phone with my PA who would pick up the calls too. But I want to tell you this truth, several attempts the Nigerians in the Diaspora made failed because it wasn’t a coordinated one.
Investment in Nigeria is old. Investment is very, very important, if investment is not important why would foreigners struggle, why would aliens try as much as they could to go into Nigeria. In the last two months, we have passed a motion in the house, on a bill for “The choice of first refusal” to any Nigerian company coming into Nigeria to do projects or business. We moved that they must now be given the first priority choice of any job or contracts. We cannot bring people together without having an enabling environment. We have been able to put these together, been able to remove that, we have moved the motion that if this guys are coming, they must have the rights of first choice of refusal and you can see that I have done something there. As soon as the National Assembly passes it, Nigerians would need to listen to their Diasporas first. We have been able to do that. Now you have an enabling environment, that you can say am coming to do drainage, build a school, or build a hotel, you now have the right of first refusal before any other foreigner. That is what we have done, and is one of our achievements.
Secondly, investment in Nigeria through my office, by the grace of God, will be coordinated with a legal backing; give it a face that nobody will come behind to jeopardise your chance of owning your establishment just because you are in the Diaspora.
Those are the things we are putting in place. You don’t want to work under anybody who wants to take up the director, this or that, take everything. You would be the one to bring the funds, and somebody else would take everything, and you would be mourning over it; I am a legal person, when you invest your money, you need to be on top of it. These are the things we have put in place to encourage Nigerians in the Diaspora and I encourage you guys too when you are trying to come into Nigeria, please work with our office because we are on ground. We want to know where you can invest and have your returns.
Thanks very much for your last words to Nigerians in the Diaspora.
Well, I will keep talking with them, my word is wherever they are, they are our pride. I am once a Diaspora. I know what they passed through. I know their politics. I know what they can do. I know what they are capable of doing. I know that their presence in Nigeria will make a turn around on our economy without recourse to paying heavy taxes on it.
Diasporas are the tools. I say they are the tools Nigeria needs to develop without harsh conditions; because they have what it takes. They have acquired the knowledge.
Most of the people coming over here to do most of the jobs are not that better, because most of the jobs they are doing in Nigeria are done by the Diaspora also, so we have the best hands and I welcome them. They are welcomed. Within these four years by the grace of God they are our faces. Look with their eyes and I will hear with their ears. I will smell with their nose and I will speak their voices. That is all I have for them.
