By Kenneth Chibuogwu Gbandi
The recent redeployment of Senator Victor Umeh as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) is a welcome development, albeit a small victory in what has become an increasingly non-robust legislative body under Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
For far too long, Senator Victor Umeh has been missing in action when it comes to the affairs of Nigerians in the Diaspora. His tenure as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Diaspora was akin to a sabbatical leave, with little to no engagement on the social and economic realities of the millions of Nigerians living abroad. Worse still, he showed no willingness to learn or engage, a situation that perfectly reflects the broader failure of the current Senate leadership, which has continued the pattern of placing round pegs in square holes, appointing individuals with little or no competence in the areas they are meant to oversee.
A Pattern of Neglect
Aside from the Hon. House speaker Dimeji Bankole’s leadership and later Dr. Bukola Saraki-led Senate, which, together with the Diaspora Team of Hon. Rita Oji and the late Senator Rose Okoh that made deliberate efforts to engage and reposition the Diaspora, subsequent legislative leaderships have merely paid lip service to Diaspora concerns.
Time and again, we see Nigerian legislators quick to highlight the enormous financial contributions of the Diaspora who remit over billions annually but fail to translate these acknowledgments into concrete policies. Their knowledge of the Diaspora economy is often limited to newspaper cuttings handed to them by their aides, and their engagement is mostly performative, seizing every opportunity for photo ops with prominent Diasporans in politics and business, yet doing nothing meaningful to address their pressing concerns and their aspirations.
Some of the key issues that have repeatedly been ignored by the Nigerian legislature include:
– Diaspora Voting: A fundamental right that remains elusive despite repeated advocacy. The last voting on the house revealed the total disdain by the majority of them.
– A Conducive Investment Climate: Policies to encourage and protect Diaspora investments in Nigeria remain weak or non-existent. We read heartbreaking stories of how Diasporans lost their hard-earned money to scrupulous and dubious investors and many of them got away with it without help from the organs that were supposed to help facilitate and protect diaspora investment. The initial MOU between ICPC and the Diaspora to protect their investment was deliberately truncated for ego political considerations.
– Effective Implementation of the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM): Successive Senate committees continue to pay lip service to properly constituting and funding NIDCOM, despite its strategic importance. Years after the passage of NIDCOM, they still enjoy a one-man board.
Senator Victor Umeh, in particular, not only failed to address these issues but showed complete contempt for the Diaspora. His tenure was marked by absolute disengagement and will go down as the worst Senate Diaspora Chair ever, making his redeployment long overdue.
A New Dawn?
With the appointment of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as the new Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and NGOs, there is hope for better engagement. However, given the current Senate leadership, I remain cautious in my expectations. While anyone is certainly better than Senator Victor Umeh, the fundamental problem remains a leadership that lacks the vision, commitment, and seriousness to address the real issues facing the Diaspora.
The Nigerian Diaspora community deserves more than symbolic gestures and empty promises. We need real engagement, real policy action, and real representation, not just politicians who use the Diaspora for publicity but ignore them when it truly matters. It is time for the Senate to step up. Diaspora issues are not optional, they are central to Nigeria’s economic and political future.
Hon. (Dr.) Kenneth Chibuogwu Gbandi is the longest-serving Diaspora leader, the immediate past Senatorial candidate in the 2023 General Elections, and the current Deputy National Chairman (Diaspora Engagement) of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Hon. Gbandi was the Diaspora Worldwide Coordinating Chairperson during the final passage of the NIDCOM Bill under Senate President BukolaSaraki.
