By Cross Udo, Abuja
State governors have criticised the Federal Government’s use of Diaspora funds, saying such funds and investments should be tied to specific projects.
Governors Mohammed Bago of Niger State and his counterpart from Plateau, Caleb Mutfwang, stated this on the margins of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, in New York.
The governors also told Nigerians in the Diaspora to consider investing in profit-yielding initiatives such as agriculture and health in their states.
They spoke at a discussion event organized by the UN Staff Recognition Council, Nigeria Association, on Tuesday night at the General in New York.
The Niger governor told the audience that under his stewardship, the state has signed a Memorandum of Understanding worth about $1bn coming as Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), noting that his administration also wants to channel Diaspora funds into transportation, health, and education projects among others.
He said, “It’s time to reiterate at this forum that we don’t want the handouts. When I heard you, right? We don’t need handouts. We need to start production.
“In the climate forum I visited this morning, I told them that global warming is not an African headache. We don’t have snow. Let the ice melt. If we will do conservation, we need something equivalent.
“With $8trn in the carbon market, how much of that is voted to Africa for us to continue the transition from the use of fossil fuel cutting down trees we are worse hit by climate change.
“Yesterday, I woke up to unfortunate news in my state: a lot of flooded communities, lives, properties, everything destroyed. And this is year in, year out.
“So, you want to put up infrastructures, you want to put up roads, you want to do this, you want to do that. So, we need to talk here with the people in the Diaspora; we’re not talking about the FDI but about diaspora funds.
“We need to identify precisely what we want. Do we want to channel resources from the Diaspora into housing, transportation, health, and education? This conversation must be around this subject, in agriculture and production, not this one that you send money to somewhere, to your uncles or aunties, and they will build their house for themselves and add additional wives. No.
“It must be a policy between the government and the private sector on how to exit from these callous ways that have brought us down continuously.”
He further said, “And I want to say in the last year of my stewardship as a governor of Niger State, I have seen prosperity in agriculture. I’m bigger than Nigerian agriculture. I can say that boldly. In the last six months, I have signed treaties and MoUs worth over a billion US dollars, which are coming as FDI.
“I have partnerships with the United Nations Development Agency and other development partners, companies like Bayer, John Deere, and so many different companies, even the UAE; they’ve just given me one million stoves so that my people can transition from using fossil fuel.
“So, I’m agrarian. I sell livestock in my local market weekly, an average of 1 million cattle. So, if I sell cattle and charge N10,000 per cattle, I’ll make N20bn from that market.
“So, for those in the Diaspora, if you want to invest in livestock, slaughterhouses, or the meat business, look at the numbers. They are obvious. So you know exactly where you want to invest in,” Bago counselled.
In his remark, Governor Mutfwang noted that though many Nigerians in the Diaspora want to invest in states, the issue of adequate remuneration has been an obstacle.
The governor, who expressed excitement over the figures from the diaspora remittances, said what was coming so far was just social largess as the people at home are not feeling the impact.
“We don’t understand where those monies are going; therefore, we can guide you,” he said.
Therefore, he suggested establishing a structure to overcome the snag and enable interested Nigerian investors abroad to invest in local developmental initiatives.
The Plateau governor stated, “Now, there are many people in the Diaspora or outside the government whose capacity to add value to our actions cannot be questioned. However, our challenge is that we do not have the remuneration package to bring them on board.
“So, one of the things the Diaspora community can do is to see how we can put heads together and manage this gap.
“Can we have a buffer that allows people of intellectual capacity, economic network, and social capital to return home and add value to our actions? But if they return home, they will return as your ambassadors, so they should be supported. We can put a structure to this.
“I’m excited about the figures we are talking about, the Diaspora remittances. But as Governor Bago mentioned, we need to put a structure to it. What is coming so far is social largess. We are not feeling the impact. We don’t understand where those monies are going, so we can guide you.
“One area of guidance, for example, I believe almost every state we have in the Plateau State, where we have the medical insurance scheme, rather than send money to an uncle, you can enrol many people into the insurance scheme. And with that, you have killed two birds with one stone. We have built capacity for the state, and you have also provided health care for some of your relations.
“So, we can put a structure to this that becomes a win-win situation for us. And what Governor Bago mentioned very much as investment opportunities, they abound. I can tell you that before the year rolls out, I plan to close five to six deals that will inject funds into my state’s economy, and our strategy, also in agriculture, is export-oriented.
“We want to take advantage of AGOA. We want to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. We are working on these things, but more often than not, the skill set that we find available to drive these processes is inadequate, and that is where the Diaspora community can come in.
“Put yourselves together and be able to offer consultancy even if it’s at a lower price than what some foreigners offer. And at the end of the day, you have helped your country, you have driven the economy, and you will be relieved of certain burdens. I can tell you that you are as wealthy and comfortable as the poorest person in your community.
“As long as you do not alleviate the levels of people in your community, you will not be comfortable. So, this is a critical challenge we must face together.”
