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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

FG reaffirms commitment to security, diaspora engagement

From The Punch · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Nigeria's government reaffirms its commitment to prioritizing security and leveraging its diaspora for national development.
  • The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs highlighted strategic partnerships with countries like the U.S. to achieve positive outcomes in security and prosperity.
  • The government views Nigerians abroad as vital assets, not a burden, and encourages unity among citizens to foster development.

Nigeria's Federal Government is doubling down on its commitment to national security and harnessing the potential of its diaspora for development. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, stated that the administration is actively working to contain security challenges and foster strategic partnerships with international allies, including the United States.

doing everything humanly possible to ensure that we contain these that have been with us in a multifaceted manner for the past 10 or so years.

— Sola EnikanolaiyeOn the government's efforts to address security challenges.

Speaking at the Nigerian Diaspora Economic Conference in Toronto, Canada, Enikanolaiye emphasized that these engagements aim to deliver tangible benefits for Nigerians in areas of security, economic prosperity, defense, and welfare. The minister acknowledged that security remains a significant hurdle but expressed confidence in the government's multifaceted approach to address the long-standing issues.

Nigeria is entering a new era of partnership of strategic autonomy with key international partners, including the United States.

— Sola EnikanolaiyeDescribing the nature of Nigeria's international relations.

Enikanolaiye also stressed the government's view of Nigerians living abroad as crucial assets rather than a consular burden. Under President Bola Tinubu's leadership, the diaspora is recognized for its vast human resource capacity, which the government intends to leverage for national development priorities. The minister urged for greater unity among Nigerians, both at home and abroad, to overcome ethnic and religious barriers and focus on functional cooperation that drives production, development, and prosperity.

For this government, Nigerians in the diaspora are critical assets of national development. We don’t see you as a basket case of consular burden responsibilities always in need of government’s intervention and assistance.

— Sola EnikanolaiyeHighlighting the government's perspective on the Nigerian diaspora.

The government also acknowledged the role of international partners like Canada in building productive relationships based on mutual respect. Enikanolaiye commended stakeholders contributing to Nigeria's progress and thanked the diaspora community for celebrating the nation's assets, reaffirming the government's dedication to fostering more productive partnerships.

On the contrary, we see you as a vital human resource with huge capacities for Nigeria which the government is trying to harness in terms of our national development priorities.

— Sola EnikanolaiyeFurther elaborating on the value of the diaspora.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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