VIDEO: Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa's interview on BBC's Focus on Africa TV.

(Wednesday 22nd February, 2017)

The Senior Special Adviser to the president, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa's interview on BBC's Focus on Africa TV. She addressed matters arising concerning Nigerians in diaspora.

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Abike Dabiri-Erewa calls on AU to call SA to order on xenophobic attacks

PRESS STATEMENT

Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora has called on the South African government to take decisive and definitive measures to protect Nigerian citizens and other Africans within South African borders.

She equally called on the African Union to intervene urgently in the renewed xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa.

In a statement issued in Abuja, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, described the attacks as an unnecessary setback.

The Nigerian Community in South Africa led by Mr Ikechukwu Anyene confirmed the attacks and looting of Nigerian-owned businesses in Pretoria West on Saturday.

Anyene said that the union had reported the incident to the Nigeria mission and South African police.

“As we speak, five buildings with Nigerian businesses, including a church have been looted and burned by South Africans", Anyene said.

The SSA, however,urged restraint on the part of Nigerians and warned that further attacks without any reprimand may have dire consequences.

Dabiri-Erewa said the attention of the AU was being called to intervene because information had it that there will be another xenophobic attacks against foreigners on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23.

“These attacks should not be allowed to continue because it is a big setback,” she said.

It will be recalled that Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa had two weeks ago met with South African High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr Lulu Aaron-Mnguni on the killing of Nigerians in South Africa.

Mr Aaron-Mnguni then promised that the South African government was investigating the matter.

``We have lost about 116 Nigerians in the last two years. And in 2016 alone, about 20 were killed’’, this is unacceptable to the people and Government of Nigeria, Dabiri-Erewa said.

Signed

Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa

SSA to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora

Statement On Recovered Stolen Nigerian Assets

                                                     

                                                       PRESS STATEMENT
LEND YOUR VOICE TO UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF RECOVERED STOLEN ASSETS, DABIRI-EREWA, SAGAY APPEALS TO NIGERIANS
Nigerians both home and abroad have been called upon to join the crusade for the unconditional and immediate release of recovered stolen assets of Nigeria stashed abroad.
This was the call made by the duo of Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) and Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora at a joint press conference in Abuja.

``This is the time for Nigerians in the Diaspora and every friend of Nigeria to get involved in the advocacy to recover stolen assets, not just in words, but in deed. We need no apologies from recipients of stolen assets. Our demand is the unconditional return of our stolen national patrimony’’, Sagay said.
Sagay assured the western world that Nigeria as a nation has put in place transparent and credible mechanisms to ensure that returned assets are used for the welfare of the people and the victims of the crime of corruption.
He said the timing could not be more appropriate than now as the nation struggles with recession, reduced income from petroleum products, restiveness in South East and South-South and remnants of insurgency in North East with millions of internally displaced persons representing the victims of corruption. ``Any return will go a long way in helping Nigeria resolve the mirage of challenges it is confronted with’’, ``Funds returned for instance can be used to construct roads; build schools, improve education; stimulate the economy, build industries to create jobs; provide quality and affordable health-care; guarantee security of lives and property through proper funding of security agencies’’, he added.

Using the World Bank estimates, Sagay said that one-third of funds allegedly stolen between 2006 and 2013 could have been used to provide 635.18 kilometers of roads; build 36 ultra-modern hospitals across the country; build 183 schools; educate 3,974 children from primary to tertiary level at 25.24 million per child; build 20,062 units of 2-bedroom houses, among many others.
``Between 1960 and 1999 when the country returned to democratic rule for instance, over $400 billion was stolen by corrupt public officers and laundered outside the country while recent revelations showed that between 2006 and 2013, 55 persons allegedly stole or diverted over N1.34tr from public coffers’’, he revealed.
Sagay said a large part of the stolen funds are stashed away in countries like Switzerland, the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, among others.
Despite the efforts and achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari in fighting corruption and recovered all the stolen money, some countries have refused to implement the asset return component of United Nations Conventions Against Corruption (UNCAC).
“Nigeria presently stands to lose another 550 million dollars recovered from the Abacha’s family to the U.S. contrary to the earlier promise by the U.S. to return same to Nigeria,” he said.
Sagay said the amount represented a separate tranche from the earlier 480 million dollars forfeited to the U.S. following a court judgment in August 2014.
Speaking in the same vein, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa decried the uncooperative attitude of the countries where the stolen funds were being stashed.
“America has over 400million dollars that have been officially recovered as stolen funds from Nigeria.
“But America is keeping the funds, they are telling us about technicalities, they are saying we recovered doesn’t mean we can return.
“We want every Nigerian in Diaspora, friends of Nigeria, to join this committee in demanding that every Nigeria’s stolen fund recovered in any part of the world should be returned to Nigeria,” She said.
According to her, the person who steals is just as guilty as the person who keeps stolen funds.
The trio of the chairman of ICPC, Barr. Ekpo Nta, DG National Orientation Agency, Dr Garba Abari and the Executive secretary of PACAC. Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye also decried the stringent conditions for repatriation being given by the western countries.
``We will join the committee to embark on an advocacy with Nigerians abroad to appeal to these nations to do everything possible to return what belongs to Nigeria,” they said. 

Abdur-Rahman Balogun


S.A. Media to Hon. Abike Dabiri

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI HAILS DORGU'S APPOINTMENT

 PRESS STATEMENT

Buhari hails the appointment of  Dorgu as the 13th Bishop of Woolwich

President Muhammadu Buhari has described the appointment of a Nigerian, Mr Woyin Karowei Dorgu as the 13th Bishop of Woolwich, by the church of England as gladdening and reassuring.

This is contained in a congratulatory message sent on his behalf by the Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa to the new Bishop.

The letter reads: "Your appointment is gladdening and reassuring being the first black man to be so appointed in 20 years.

"This is an attestation to the fact that Nigerians in the diaspora are excelling in their various fields of human endeavours, thus projecting a good image for the country abroad." President Buhari said in the letter.

The President hoped and prayed that Dorgu's appointment as a Bishop will serve as a catalyst for others in the region as well as enhance Nigeria's spiritual rejuvenation.

"You have worked really hard and earned the respect of the Church of England to be so appointed. With you on this, we are sure you will continue to contribute your quota to the success of the Church.", he added.

The SSA expressed the willingness of President Muhammadu Buhari to receive Dorgu in Nigeria and rejoice with his unique feat which has made Nigeria proud of him.

Mr. Dorgu will be consecrated at Southwark Cathedral on March 17, 2017.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Dorgu was trained as a medical doctor in Lagos before being ordained in the UK. He has since served as a minister in various London parishes.

Dorgu said he hopes to embrace the diversity of Woolwich, which hosts a significant Nigerian expatriate community, and to encourage more ethnic minorities to participate in the ministry, which is predominantly white.

Out of the 15 percent of the general population engaged in the process of becoming ordained, ethnic minorities of blacks represented only 1.9 percent.

It is believed that quite a lot of Nigerian Christians [in the Woolwich area] are from an Anglican background.

Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.

PRESS STATEMENT ON SINGAPORE DEATH SENTENCE

EXECUTION OF A NIGERIAN IN SINGAPORE, HEARTBREAKING--- ABIKE DABIRI-EREWA

ABUJA: NOV. 17, 2016: The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has described the sentencing to death of a Nigerian in Singapore on Friday for drug related offences as heartbreaking despite repeated calls for Nigerians to desist from criminal activities like drug peddling.

In a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Abdur-Rahman Balogun in Abuja said that  since Singapore is determined to enforce its laws as a deterrent to drug trafficking, which has reduced as a result of its stringent capital punishment , nothing much can be done except to continue to appeal"

"While we regret the death sentence passed on the Nigerian, we once again appeal to Nigerians to avoid crimes like drug trafficking with most countries especially in Asia declaring zero tolerance for drug trafficking.", Dabiri-Erewa stated.

She reiterated her appeal to Nigerians to avoid drug peddling in their host countries as laws of countries, whether acceptable or not, will be difficult to influence.

 A Nigerian, Chijoke Obioha was caught in Singapore trafficking in hard drugs on April 9, 2007, with his execution slated for Friday Nov. 18.

Obioha was arrested with more than 2.6 kilograms of cannabis, surpassing the statutory amount of 500 grams presumed as drug trafficking in Singapore.

The Amnesty International had called on Singapore to immediately halt Friday’s planned execution of Chijoke Stephen Obioha, a Nigerian national on death row for possession of drugs.

 Obioha’s family was informed that his appeal for clemency has been rejected.

 Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South-East Asia and the Pacific, said: “The Singapore government still has time to halt the execution of Chijoke Stephen Obioha. We are dismayed that clemency has not been granted in his case, but remain hopeful that they won’t carry out this cruel and irreversible punishment against a person sentenced to the mandatory death penalty for a crime that should not even be punished by death. “

"The death penalty is never the solution. It will not rid Singapore of drugs. By executing people for drug-related offences, which do not meet the threshold of most serious crimes, Singapore is violating international law.

Under Singaporean law, when there is a presumption of drug possession and trafficking, the burden of proof shifts from the prosecutor to the defendant.

 This violates the right to a fair trial by turning the presumption of innocence on its head. Drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law.

International law also prohibits the imposition of the death penalty as a mandatory punishment and Amnesty International opposes the use of the death penalty outright, regardless of the crime

Signed.

Abdur-Rahman Balogun

S.A. Media to Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa

Abike Dabiri-Erewa warns on hostile study environments

The Nigerian Turkish Nile University (NTNU) says it is ready to offer admission with 50 per cent discount tuition fees to any Nigerian student affected by the crisis in Turkey.

Behlul Fatih-Basaran, the Director of Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC) Foundation said this when a delegation from the university visited Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Fatih-Basaran, who said that the NTIC was ready to help any student who was ready to study at the university, noted that NTNU had already absorbed 29 students that returned from Turkey.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalled that some Nigerian students at various universities in Turkey suffered persecutions ranging from arrest to deportation over alleged link with the country’s failed coup.

The director explained that out of 54 students on different foundations scholarship in Turkey, 29 had returned to the country and were absorbed by NTNU on full scholarship.

He stressed that the remaining 25 would also enjoy scholarship with a monthly token.

He said “the 25 students offered scholarship in Turkey will still enjoy their full scholarship by the NTIC Foundation.”

“Other than that, there are other Nigerian students who are going through hardships because of the development in Turkey.



“Some of them have been moved to other universities where they face various hardships ranging from faculty difficulties and language barrier, among others.

“The students were simply forced to go back to their country; some of them were even deported and now the Nile University under the umbrella of NTIC Foundation decided to help these students.

“If they decide to accept to study at NTNU, they will have 50 per cent of their tuition fee cut.”

Mr. Fatih-Basaran was accompanied by NTNU’s Vice Chancellor, Huseyin Sert and Yaqub Alhassan, a parent to one of the Nigerian students in Turkey.

Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa in her remarks commended the Foundation for the gesture and pledged to monitor the offer in conjunction with the Ministry of Education.

The senior special adviser said that the present administration had good policies for Nigerians both in the Diaspora and at home, especially on education.

She, therefore, appealed to parents to be wary of sending their children to volatile countries to study.



(NAN)

BREAKING! HOW SGF LAWAL BABACHIR IS AIDING STARVATION AMONG IDPS – GROUP CRIES OUT

WHY THE STAGNATION OF THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMITEE ON NORTHEAST INITIATIVE BY THE OFFICE OF THE SGF;
Women and Children are dying in Large numbers at the IDP Camps. On August 24 2016, areport by doctors without borders of catastrophic humanitarian emergency currently unfolding in camps for internally displaced people in Borno State, Nigeria, where 24,000 people, including 15,000 children (among them 4,500 under five years of age) are sheltered in a camp located on a hospital compound.

According to the report, the children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition – the deadliest form of malnutrition. Earlier, in response to the catastrophy unleashed in the Northeast of Nigeria by Boko Haram, and as way of rebuilding and rehabiliyating the region,President Muhammadu Buhari set up Presidential Committee on Northeast Initiative (PCNI) as the apex body of the existing Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE) and the Safe School Initiative (SSI) plus the Victim Support Fund (VSF).

It is to carry out rehabilitation, rebuilding and restructuring places destroyed by terrorists. The rebuilding of the Northeast is an enormost work and requires considerable planning and coordination.

Therefore the Committee is to among other things, oversight and harmonise the functions of the various entities engaged in the Northeast and to fasttrack the work.The PCNI is said to have a huge plan that includes immediate, medium and long term plans to assisting the IDPs.

But so far the PCNI has remained uncommissioned because the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF has refused to act on the file that will galvanise the Commitee.

BCO is worried that the unfortunate and worrosome condition ofIDPs could have been avoided if only the SGF release the file of the Presidential Committee on Northeast Initiative (PCNI) to give them the mandate to get to work immidiately.

Therefore, we are calling on Lawal Babachil; the Secretary to the Government of Federation to please see the need to free us from this unnecessary administrative bottleneck and stop stalling the take off of PCNI because we can’t play politics with lives.


And most of all


WE CAN’T ALLOW IDPs’ FAITH IN OUR COUNTRY TO FADE!

Nigeria is the only country they have and morality demands our collective responsibility for urgent and solid solution without playing dangerous politics with children’s lives.


Thank you and

Long live Nigeria!

Miriam Yakubu Ikunaiye


Convener,


BeTheChange Organization, aka


Buharian Culture Organization


08099838756