Soyinka, Sanwo-Olu, Dabiri-Erewa, others seek return of Nigerians in Diaspora

ActionAid Nigeria has implored private organisations and businesses to work towards building a Nigeria where every returnee and vulnerable youth can live, work, and thrive with dignity through strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, who spoke, at the weekend, during a business brunch meeting on migration and economic inclusion in Lagos, said that companies and businesses must understand that the most sustainable solutions to integrate vulnerable people, including returnees, is when government, private sector, and civil society groups work hand in hand to leverage CSR not merely as philanthropy, but as a strategic tool for economic empowerment and inclusion.

He said that ActionAid, through its Reconnect Project, had been working to strengthen the reintegration of returnees and vulnerable youths by promoting access to skills, enterprise development, and psychosocial support.

Also, the Humanitarian and Resilience Specialist, ActionAid, David Habb, who spoke on CSR as a tool for Sustainable Economic Reintegration of Returned Migrants & Vulnerable Populations in Nigeria, stated that migration is not inherently bad.

He, however, noted that Nigeria has a reintegration problem as well as facing a challenge in the reintegration of returned migrants, with thousands of citizens returning each year from various transit and destination countries.”

Similarly, the Programme Advisor, Migration Reintegration, ActionAid, Abraham Aba, gave an overview of the organisation’s Reconnect Project, saying that it is designed to address the challenges faced by vulnerable groups, including returned migrants, internally displaced persons, and others, through providing economic and social stability, capacity building, as well as psychosocial support.

HOWEVER, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, have urged Nigerians living in the Diaspora, especially those whose ancestors were forcefully taken as slaves, to return home.

Soyinka, who spoke during the Fifth Door of Return Ceremony held in Badagry, Lagos, prayed for the safe return of more people in Diaspora, saying: “All voyages consist of two parts, the setting out and the return. No voyage is complete without the other. What we are celebrating is the formal beginning of a stupendous event. We are obsessed with the notion of their coming back.

Similarly, Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Idris Aregbe, said that the event was a living testament to Lagos State’s commitment to cultural renaissance and diaspora unity.

Sanwo-Olu lauded the people of Badagry for preserving their heritage, pledging the state government’s continuous support. Dabiri-Erewa said: “Next year will be huge. This is just the test run. This is our own way of reconnecting with our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora. This is our own way of welcoming and encouraging them to return to the motherland. They all want to remain and see the beauty of Nigeria. They keep asking why they haven’t been here earlier.”