Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has assured potential investors all over the globe that the state is open for collaboration for investment opportunities with provision of enabling environment for such.
He stated this during the third zonal sensitisation and advocacy workshop organised by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) for Diaspora direct investment in the Northeast region.
Represented by Commissioner for Budget, Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination, Hajia Amina Muhammad Katagum, the Governor commended NiDCOM for putting such a sensitisation workshop together to educate both Nigerians at home and abroad.
He said that the Diaspora constitutes a major source of potential investment to Nigeria, adding that they are also a source of knowledge, ideas, skills, experiences and expertise which can turn around the fortune of Nigeria.
The Governor said it is time for the region to look inwards and tap into the enormous opportunities of the Diasporas and end the era of total dependent on the statutory federal allocation and VAT sharing.
He added that the northeast must prioritise revenue generation through appropriate exploration of the diasporas potentials.
He urged the northeastern government to leverage this golden opportunity of the workshop to learn the how, when, where and what can attract the diaspora of the individual states.
Bala reiterated his commitment to leveraging and harnessing the huge untapped potentials of Bauchi Diaspora by creating enabling environment and keep improving ease of doing business to bring about prosperity of the state across all the sectors.
Earlier, the Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who was represented by the Commission’s Secretary, Engr. Dr Sule Yakubu Bassi highlighted the huge material, mineral, agricultural, human resources that the Northeastern region of Nigeria is endowed with that can be harness for national development.
She said that while Nigerians in daspora have remitted over 90 billion dollars as Diaspora home remittances through cash, intellectual property, good, services and investments in the past five years, there is the need for the sensitisation and advocacy workshop for both Nigerians home and abroad to catalyse development in Nigeria.
Dr Esther Ahmed, the Special Adviser on Diaspora and multilateral also stressed the need for the region to collaborate and advocate for better Diaspora engagement, which will translate to investment in the region.
Other dignitaries present at the workshop include Commissioner for Works, Engr. Titus Kukah, Gombe state Diaspora Focal Officer, Dr Jamilu Jafaru, Yobe State Diaspora officer, Alhaji Modu, some members of the State House of Assembly, and members of private sectors.
This is the third in the series of the sensitisation and advocacy workshop on the promotion of diaspora investment potentials, having done that of South West in Lagos and South East in Enugu State.
