BY  OKEY NDIRIBE
No fewer than 200 Nigerian professionals in diaspora have indicated their readiness  to participate in the 5th Nigeria Diaspora Day Conference which is scheduled to begin in Abuja next Monday.

This was disclosed by Mr Taye Haruna,  a Permanent Secretary in the office of the Secretary  to the Government of the Federation (SGF) while briefing news men about the Federal Government’s preparations for the confab which would take place at the Abuja Transcorp Hilton Hotel with the theme “Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda-The Diaspora perspective”.

He further stated that it was the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo which declared July 25 as Nigeria’s Diaspora day in recognition of Nigerians in diaspora as important stakeholders in Nigeria’s development adding that the days also serves to celebrate the individual and collective contributions of the Diaspora to the growth of various sectors of the economy.

Said he:  “The Annual Diaspora conference was initiated in 2005 by the Nigerian National Volunteer Service (NNVS) to create a platform for dialogue, interactions and collaborations between Nigerians in diaspora, particularly the experts and professionals and their counterparts at home.
“The Diaspora engagement policy is driven by the need to harness the immense human capital and resources of Nigerians living abroad for the development of the nation”
He also explained that the Nigerian National Volunteer Service office which is attached to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) is the Government Department charged with the responsibility to facilitate diaspora mobilization.