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

PRESS STATEMENT ON VIDEO CIRCULATING ABOUT NIGERIAN HIGH COMMISSION, OTTAWA, CANADA

PRESS STATEMENT

Abuja, Aug. 26, 2016.

The attention of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has been drawn to an old CBC video circulating on social media creating an impression that Nigerians in Canada go through hell in securing a new Nigerian Passport. This is not true.

The video in circulation was broadcast on CBC in 2013 and the High Commissioner  to Canada at the time, the late Amb.  Ojo Maduekwe diligently dealt with the issue then to strengthen the structure of the Passport Section of the Nigeria High Commission, in Ottawa, making it possible to  obtain passports in less than a day in Ottawa.

The lady who was at the helm of affairs in Immigration section at the time was asked to leave Ottawa. Not only that,  the late Ojo Maduekwe granted interviews to put into perspective what happened and promised Nigerians then that it would never happen again. And it never did.

It must be pointed out here that up till today, applicants can obtain their passports in two hours at the  Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa. This is verifiable from Nigerians in Canada.

It is really uncharitable and worrisome that the video in question was posted on a day late Ambassador Maduekwe was being buried and honoured as a worthy leader  and statesman.  I appeal to all Nigerians to disregard the video.


While noting and admitting that some of our embassies must step up their attitude in dealing with issues relating to Nigerians in their host countries, President Buhari’s administration is determined to ensure that the rights and welfare of Nigerians whether at home or in the Diaspora remain a major priority of this administration.



Signed
Abdurrahman Balogun
S.A. Media to Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

THE NIGERIA DIASPORA DAY SHAME

         The 2016 Diaspora Day Conference came and went by in a matter that can be described as "Jiffy'' with most Diasporans still asking questions on when this years conference will be holding, unaware that the conference has been concluded. I spoke with people who attended the 2015 Diaspora Day Conference, they also agreed that this years' conference cannot be compared to the shadow of last years event.
          Below is a letter to the President, Muhammadu Buhari from Kemi Muritala a concerned Nigerian who witnessed the shoddy way in which the 2016 Diaspora Day Conference was put together.
More photos after the Jump.


"Sir: The 2016 Nigeria Diaspora Day has come and gone but its impacts, though negatively, will continue to haunt the organizers of this badly and hurriedly organised flopped conference. From when the committee was hurriedly set up late June barely a month to July 24 - 26 date under the chairmanship of Ambassador Olukunle Bamgbose, Permanent secretary (political affairs), office of the Federation, it had been programmed to fail.
   It is painful as it is shameful that the only programme for Nigerians in the diaspora who had contributed a lot to national development including remittances over $21 billion to the country was shabbily planned and poorly executed. It was more disastrous that most stakeholders were fenced out of the Diaspora Day Conference unlike the successful 2015 Diaspora Day Conference where all the stake holders took active part.
    One of the greatest flaws in this year's Diaspora Day Conference was that the portal for registration was not opened until about a week to the conference day and it was not even functional for people to register for the conference. Secondly, the invitation card for the conference was not made available until four days to the conference. Thirdly, apart from the press conference , no proper awareness was given to 2016 Diaspora Day, thus shutting out many genuine Diasporans from participating.
     The aftermath was the recruitment of most Abuja based so-called Diasporans who were accredited to attend the event in one of the small halls at the International Conference Center unlike the 2015 conference held at the Aso Villa Banquet Confetence Hall filled to capacity with genuine Diasporans.
       Even though the conference was planned for 500 delegates, less than 200 people delegates that attended actually live in Nigeria with the police and other secretariat staff filled the empty seats in the hall. Besides, most stakeholders like the chairpersons of the Diaspora Committee of both the House of Representatives and that of the senate were conspicuously absent as well as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. It was indeed a shame.
       Unlike 2015, when the Vice President Yemi Osibanjo represented the President, none of them was at the 2016 Diaspora conference which had as its theme: " Harnessing the potentials of the Diaspora for National Development". Whither the potentials to be harnessed when genuine stakeholders were shut out of the conference?
        It is desirable that the organization of subsequent Diaspora conferences should be handled by the real Diasporans themselves and not the Nigerian National Volunteer Service. It will be of interest to members of the public to know how much of taxpayers' money was wasted in this badly Organised conference.
        I hereby call on President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a panel to probe the activities of the 2016 Diaspora Day Conference so as to safeguard the country from the misfortune of a repeat in 2017"

SSA to the President, Abike Dabiri-Erewa condemns stabbing to death of Nigerian teenager in London

FOLA OREBIYI

 Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora has condemned the gruesome stabbing to death of another Nigerian teenager in London.


In a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Abdur-Rahman Balogun in Abuja, Dabiri-Erewa said the killing of 17-year old Fola Orebiyi, was unacceptable to the government and people of Nigeria.

Dabiri-Erewa said the killing of Orebiyi and other extra judicial killing of Nigeria citizens in UK was becoming worrisome.

She called for full investigation of the incident and urged the UK government to make sure that justice prevails.

While condoling the family of the deceased boy on the ugly incident, she prayed unto God to give the bereaved family the fortitude to bear the painful loss.

She said that while Nigeria will not condone crime and criminal tendencies, it takes exception to the harassment, killing and execution of her nationals abroad unjustifiably.

Dabiri-Erewa urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari administration in making Nigeria a better place, urging them to support the administrations' war against corruption.

A Nigerian student, Fola Orebiyi, was reportedly stabbed to death in a street clash on Sunday July 3, in Notting Hill, London, by a gang of youths.

He was reportedly involved in a fight on a nearby estate with a gang of youths, who chased him into the busy road where he was stabbed in the neck in front of shocked passersby and tourists.

Following the stabbing, he collapsed and bled to death and all efforts by the Police and paramedics to resuscitate him, proved abortive.

The deceased’s neighbour, Osman Sahal, told the police: “He was a nice boy and very considerate; none of us can understand how this could have happened.

“As far as I knew, he was never in trouble. I suppose we must now wait for the police to investigate.”

Orebiyi, who completed his General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) at Holland Park in London, was studying for his A levels at the Chelsea Academy before his death.

After the incident, a yet-to-be identified 15-year-old boy was arrested by the London police in connection with the death.

An anonymous teenager was quoted to have told the police: “I know what happened; he was protecting a friend over a silly beef which turned violent.”

“She said: “It was traumatising. It took half an hour for the ambulance to arrive even though there are hospitals all around. I spoke to the person who called the police and he said it took them so long to get here.

Theo Danjuma has been named among The World's Top 100 Art Collectors for 2016 by The artnet News Index.

Clockwise from top left: Theo Danjuma, Nita Ambani, Leonardo di Caprio, Maja Hoffman, Alan Lau, Elisabeth Karpidas

The son of mega-wealthy Nigerian general, Theo Danjuma got hooked on collecting art after purchasing a Julie Mehretu work on paper 2008. That single act led to other notable purchases by the London-based collector: among them works by Jordan Wolfson, Cory Arcangel, Jason Rhoades, Chris Ofili, Danh Vō, Pieter Hugo, Matias Faldbakken, and Zimbabwean artist Kudzanai Chiurai. According to the website of the eponymously named Danjuma Collection, the trove strives after "a firm focus on established conceptual artists" of the collector's own generation, but "also supports emerging artists from 'upcoming' geographies, particularly Africa," reflecting Danjuma's family ties to the Africa.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, SSA to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora during a visit to Gov. Willie M. Obiano of Anambra State.

Gov. Willie M Obiano with Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa

The SSA to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Anambra State, Gov. Willie M. Obiano; The Governor in line with the Presidents vision of zero to minimal Brent dependence stated that tourism & culture is as bright as the future gets. Sighting a cave with "natural spring water fall" located in Owerre Ezukala community as an example, he expressed his intention to extensively explore the Potential benefits of the tourist destination by making it a source of wealth and job creation for the state and host community. Hon. Abike commended the Governors' efforts on promoting culture and tourism, she also praised him for being the Governor of the first and only state in Nigeria with a full ministry dedicated to diaspora, culture and tourism. The Governor charged the commissioner for Diaspora, tourism and culture: Mrs Stella Onuora and his S.A on diaspora: Mr Cyril Agwupugo to give the SSA to the President on diaspora and foreign affairs their full support.

From L to R: Mrs Stella Onuora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and Mr. Cyril Agwupugo.