The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama said this at a seminar on the validation of proposed “National Policy on Diaspora Matters’’ in Abuja on Thursday.
Onyeama was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye.
The minister said there was the need to promote the capacity of Nigerians abroad to achieve the “immense potential of the diaspora’’.
He added that enhanced inclusion of Nigerians abroad in the voting process would support their contributions to national development.
“This is for the socio-political and economic development of the nation.
“In addition, the empowerment of Nigerians in the Diaspora as change agents for national development should be speedily scaled up.
“On our part, we deeply support any mechanism for the inclusion of Nigerian Diaspora to participate in future elections,’’ he said.
He urged that the challenges impeding the effectiveness of Nigerians abroad should be considered.
“Many of them (Diaspora) are deeply concerned about the situation in the country and have critical skills and potential that could be harnessed to solving Nigeria’s sociology-economic challenges.
“What has been lacking is the mechanism of effective engagement and interface with the government, with a view to ensuring that our country reaps fully the benefits of this engagement.
“The ministry, therefore, sharpening its in-house resources to effectively harness the potential of Nigerians wherever they are based.’’
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