The call by a so-called Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants on the Federal government of Nigeria to either dissolve or restructure the *Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM)* wouldn’t have been anything to write home about. But it becomes imperative that, as one of Nigeria’s association in the Diaspora, we must respond to this misguided, perhaps borne out of a deliberate miseducation of this coalition, call for NiDCOM dissolution not only because the commission represents Nigerians the world over (our association and its members inclusive), but the unassailable fact that Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has been a “one-woman” battalion whose interest in the wellbeing of Nigerians in the Diaspora is beyond reproach, even before the establishment of a commission of which she’s now its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The coalition’s so-called World Press Conference was laughable as it was comical not only because the organizers exhibited deeply flawed thought process in advancing whatever grievances they may have with the commission, but the sheer fact that those reasons themselves are as unintelligible, crass and badly disjointed which shouldn’t have emanated from any Oduduwa descendants, let alone a Coalition. A World Press Conference doesn’t get any asinine than that.
In calling for the Commission’s dissolution or restructure, the coalition’s National Coordinator, *Lekan Ekundayo,* said that “hate campaigns (are ongoing because) some disgruntled elements abroad (are) endorsing negative publicity about Nigeria.” As a result of this “negative publicity” by these faceless Nigerians “enemies of the Nigerian state like Boko Haram, insurgents and other economic saboteurs…continue to wreak havoc on the country” because, in Ekundayo’s warped mind like that of a simpleton, “NiDCOM has become the refinery for the processing of crude, scathing critics and all forms of negativism against Nigeria.”
Perhaps Ekundayo and the coalition he purport to represent simply lacks the presence of mind to understand the fact that in a free world, even in Nigeria, people can never share the same opinion about the situation of their country and how it is being administered.
Pray thee, what has NiDCOM got to do with the independent criticisms of some Nigerians in the Diaspora? What also has Boko Haram and other insurgencies that currently bedevils the country got to do with these unsubstantiated criticisms? Would Boko Haram, banditry, kidnappings and other nefarious activities of these degenerates suddenly evaporate were this “negative publicity” to have stopped? How has NiDCOM “become the refinery for the processing of crude, scathing critics and all forms of negativism against Nigeria?” Where’s the connecting thread between NiDCOM and the imbecilic reasons advanced by Ekundayo and his coalition for the Commission’s dissolution?
While we may never know why Lekan Ekundayo has chosen to go down this perfidious road (and it’s frankly unimportant to us) about NiDCOM, they should advance intelligent arguments next time if they’re truly desirous of having the Commission scrapped or restructured. The coalition’s pointless characterization of NiDCOM is Dead On Arrival as it is an attempt at crying wolf when there’s absolutely none.
*ENGR. GBENGA OMONIYA,
Hagerstown, Maryland, US,
for Association of Nigerian Professionals in the Americas
