…As NiDCOM Proposes up to N50 million loan for housing Nigerians in Diaspora.
By Edoamaowo Udeme
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM),Nigeria, has said the remittances from the Nigerians in the Diaspora stood at $19.2billion as of 2021.
Mr. Victor Lutenco, Senior Programme Coordinator, Migration Management, and Head of Lagos Sub-Office, International Organization for Migration, stated this at the 4th Summit of the Standing Committee on Diaspora Matters and the State Diaspora Focal Point Officers held in Abuja.
Lutenco quoted the World Bank report that says that the vast majority of remittances sent to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021 went to Nigeria, with a total value of 19.2 billion U.S Dollars.
This amount, he said, is approximately
three times bigger than Foreign Direct Investments and official development assistance to Nigeria combined, adding that it is similar to the total revenues from the oil and gas sector making Nigeria’s economy a migration-based one.
According to him, “The sheer scale of remittances, both monetary and social, clearly illustrates that the diasporas already are a vital constituent for sustainable development, and key to Nigeria delivering on its commitments to
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those related to migration, and the Global Compact for Migration (GCM).”
Lutenco commended Nigeria for the significant efforts that are being
made in harnessing the potential of the diaspora for the development of Nigeria particularly by including
the diasporas in the National Development Plan, creating the Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) in 2019 to coordinate and harness the human capital and material resources of Nigerians diaspora towards the overall socio-economic, cultural, and political development of the country.
He further praised Nigeria for adopting the National Diaspora Policy in 2021 as well as inaugurating the standing committee on diaspora matters to coordinate all diaspora matters in Nigeria, adding that IOM and the European Union were partners and direct contributors.
He harped on the need for implementation of National Diaspora Policy, saying that its implementation requires inter-institutional collaboration and coordination among critical stakeholders.
He said: “You will agree with me that having a good policy is a necessary
prerequisite, but not a sufficient one.
“What is most important is its implementation, which of course
requires a formidable inter-institutional collaboration and coordination amongst relevant stakeholders.
“One of the directives of the National Migration Policy is to establish a Standing Committee on Diaspora Matters, involving key stakeholders working on diaspora matters to coordinate and oversee diaspora activities in the country.
“It has therefore become expedient to ensure effective coordination and
collaboration between the Standing Committee on Diaspora Matters and the State Diaspora Focal Points Officers to enable them to support the efforts of the Federal Government in engaging the diasporas for sustainable national development.
He pointed out that Nigerians abroad have the knowledge, experience, networking, and financial capacities to support multiple sectors that are relevant to the development of Nigeria, such as in the economy, education and healthcare sectors, among others.
He however noted that two ingredients are key in diaspora remittances namely “concrete corridors or mechanisms for the transfer and trust in their functionality so that transfers are actually happening.”
He therefore, tasked the Standing Committee on Diaspora Matters to focus on these two critical objectives of building transfer mechanisms and gaining
trust of diaspora, adapting, and upgrading its works, and IOM, assuring that other development partners, would do their best to support.
On the other hand, The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), is set to launch a housing programme that will enable Nigerians abroad to access a loan of up to N50 million to build their house in Nigeria.
The Secretary of the Commission, Dr Yakubu Sule Bassi, disclosed this to newsmen on the sideline of the 4th summit of the standing committee on diaspora matter and the state diaspora focal point officers in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the programme which will be launched in November during the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit will address the issue of fraud in the process of acquiring properties by Nigerians in the diaspora.
“What we have discovered is that for many diasporas, their first trust-building point is that they want to own a house in Nigeria and if possible, in their state or villages.
“But they don’t have the lump sum money to engage in that. Others, who are sending money gradually to relations, to friends, we have had so many cases of people being duped of their hard-earned money.
“That is one area of trust deficiency we have discovered because we are receiving petitions on a daily basis from diasporas that have been duped by their family members, by friends.
“So, we have approached the mortgage bank with a programme that will create a diaspora mortgage programme for our diasporas.
“We have been working on this for the past three years and that programme has passed through all due diligence at the federal mortgage bank, it has been approved by the board of the federal mortgage bank, it has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria because they are sending their contributions in foreign currency so they need a domiciliary account to deal with that.
“Diasporas will choose the amount they want to contribute every month, they will be sending this amount through a dedicated domiciliary account that is customised to each person that wants to participate.
“And after one year, The Federal Mortgage Bank is prepared to advance a loan of N50 million for them to build, to buy a house in any location of their choice in Nigeria,” he said.
Dr Bassi added that the repayment of the loan which will be in foreign currency depends on the number of years chosen by the participants.
Speaking earlier, the Chief of Mission of the International Organisation for Migration, Prestage Murima, said more than $20 billion come in yearly from Nigerians abroad.
Represented by Victor Lutenco, the Head of IOM in Lagos, she said their savings would be three times bigger, adding: “We should try to encourage them to invest those savings in this country
