Before we kill the goose that lays the golden egg – Diaspora

Sometime in 2007 a very good friend of mine came to my office and told me that he was in line to become the president of ICAN and that he wanted to leave a legacy. I asked him what legacy and he told me that he wanted me to help him establish the USA District Society of the Institute of the Accountancy of Nigeria. While we were discussing I expected him to know the impact Diasporans are having in the various countries of the world. At the time Nigerian Diasporans were remitting about $10 billion annually and I told him so. He turned around and looked at me with the expression of ‘you must be a joker’. When I saw his expression I laughed. Two weeks after he went back to Nigeria he called me from Nigeria and said ‘my friend you are correct, the CBN has just published the figure you told me’. He later became ICAN President and realized his legacy. Today we have ICAN USA District Society.

Why this story!

First of all, today Nigerian Diasporans remit officially a little over 20 billion but unofficially the figure may be doubled. Ndiigbo have more of their people outside Nigeria than any other ethnic division. What does that say about money from Diasporan Ndiigbo? I know personally many of my friends who live comfortably here in the USA put are pouring in millions of Naira to help provide good drinking water, good roads, security and education to name a few. My clients here in the USA are mostly non bank financial institutions, principally money transmitters, payement instrument issuers, check cashes, etc and as such I have first hand information of what I am talking about. Many countries go out of their way to express their gratitude to their Diasporans. The Philippines government called their Diasporans ‘our modern day heroes’. In many countries, remittances from the Diasporans have overtaken foreign direct investment. The tremendous advantage is that remittances do not go through corrupt government officials otherwise the impact would have been minimal.

Secondly, some Diasporans have soiled the image of Nigeria but lately what we are reading more often is how Nigerian born Americans are breaking every academic record and also excelling in sports. There are arguably about 9,000 Nigerian medical doctors here in the USA. These days when ever you walk into any office and they know you are a Nigerian the next discussion will be about one or two or more Nigerians that have excelled in one profession or the other. Nigerian image is slowly but surely being polished because of what our kids and professionals are doing. Please remember that no country is without her bad people. The difference is the perception.

Finally, to the treatment of Diaspora Ndiigbo, it is very unfortunate. Ndiigbo and Alaigbo are doing as well as they are doing in the harsh economic environment in Nigeria thanks partly to the efforts of Diaspora Ndiigbo. We are not asking for medal but we are asking for a little appreciation. Sometimes we go without so that our people at home will be a little comfortable. This is a true statement.

Amadiebube