Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Uzoma Emenike, says Nigerians should start projecting the Buhari administration in positive light rather than complaining about its economic and security challenges, which is a global phenomenon.
Dr. Emenike was one of several ambassadors who spoke at the virtual 2021 annual general meeting organised by Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Americas (NIDOA).
According to the envoy there are a lot of positive things happening in Nigeria that should attract the attention of the global community.
She pointed out that one of them is the just achieved very high GDP growth of 5 percent.
She continued by saying that “The earlier we showcase our country in the positive light, the better for us because the challenge we face is not peculiar to Nigeria alone; it happens everywhere,”
Mrs Emenike and other ambassadors in North America called on Nigerians in the diaspora to evolve practical solutions to the security challenges in Nigeria, stating that insecurity had become a global challenge that needed a holistic approach to address.
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, asked for collective efforts to fix the country.
“The country (Nigeria) is important for all of us. We need to be united, we should not allow anybody coming from outside to divide us. Let us collectively fix whatever is bad in our security system. The issue of confidence-building is important.
“We have been saddled with self-doubt; listening to false stories about the country. We have to be realistic; Nigeria is a very important member of the international community, in AU and ECOWAS, so we need to portray the country in a good light,” he said.
Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, Adeyinka Asekun, said the ongoing activities of bandits in some states were distracting Nigerians and the international community from focusing on the achievements in other sectors in Nigeria.
The keynote speaker, Kingsley Moghalu, said that the 1999 Constitution was clear on security and welfare of the people being the primary responsibility of any responsible government.
Speaking on the theme ‘Building a Sustainable Security Apparatus in Nigeria: Diaspora Perspective’, NIDOA chairman, Obed Monago, tasked the federal government to tackle security issues such as terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, among others.
The issue of banditry continues to overwhelm the President Muhammadu Buhari regime, as the U.S. offers to assist Nigeria to tackle bandits and the Boko Haram insurgency by providing training to personnel of the Nigerian Airforce.