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Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora
Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) says the Federal Government is pressing for compensation for affected Nigerians in the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Dabiri-Erewa stated this at the maiden Diaspora Lecture of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).
The lecture was entitled: “Role of Africans in Diaspora in the Transformation of a University of Technology.”
Dabiri – Erewa, who was represented by Mr Abdul-Rahman Balogun, her Special Assistant on Media, noted that the Nigerian government was also putting in place measures to ensure perpetrators were prosecuted and justice given.
According to her, those that have been evacuated to Nigeria would be well taken care of.
Dabiri-Erewa also enjoined all state governments to create a Diaspora Desk, saying Nigeria has the highest diaspora potentials in Africa and the third in the world.
Prof. Mobolaji Aluko, the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Otuoke, and guest lecturer at the occasion, said Nigerian universities of technology should ensure that they have foreign students’ enrolment through scholarship programme for them.
Aluko, also a Special Adviser and Director-General, Office of Transformation, Strategy and Delivery Office in Ekiti, urged universities to sustain regular academic calendar.
He also called for a conducive environment for learning in universities while parents should develop scientific mindset in their children.
“We need to start to develop scientific minds in all our children . We should not stop them from being inquisitive and they should walk in groups because nobody achieves anything individually. They should be given little problems to solve right from their primary school level,” he said.
In his remarks, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, the Vice Chancellor of FUTA, said that Africa was blessed with great human and material resources.
Fuwape noted that Nigerians in particular had continued to contribute immensely to the global economy.
He promised that FUTA would give fresh impetus to collaboration between researchers in Nigeria and abroad to promote national development.
“This programme would assist us a great deal to identify gaps in transformation trajectory needed for Africa to take its pride of place in the comity of nations,” he added.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Dr Mohammed Mustapha Lecky and Dr Babatope Agbeyo were given Goodwill Ambassador awards by FUTA management.(NAN)
