For decades, the Federal Government of Nigeria has been wooing Nigerians in the diaspora, particularly the professionals amongst them, to turn their attention towards home with little or no success until the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari came in power and signed a Bill into law in July 2017 empowering a commission—Nigerians in Diaspora Commission(NiDCOM), headed by Abike Dabiri-Erewa, to run the affairs of Nigerians in the Diaspora.
This development was widely welcomed as giving teeth to the government’s self-professed desire to partner its citizens abroad. Since then, the Commission has blazed through so many challenges and obstacles, as with everything that has great potential, given to the enormous responsibilities on their shoulder to coordinate and organize Nigerians in and from the Diaspora to contribute human capital and material resources, including their expertise, for the development of the country and its constituent states.
On his assumption as the governor of Imo state, one of the first key appointments of his excellency, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, was a special adviser in Diaspora affairs which points to his drive to running an inclusive government which would bring an all round development to the people of Imo state by engaging the sons and daughters of the state who are living outside the shores of Nigeria.
Spearheading this great initiative by Sen. Uzodinma is Hon. Cllr. Celia Osakwe-Hibbert, who since her appointment as the SA to the governor on Diaspora affairs, has brought some sense of urgency to issues bordering on the involvement of the diaspora community to developmental blueprint and strides of the state governor.
Ms Osakwe-Hibbert who is also an elected Councillor for Penn Ward, Wolverhampton, UK, had brought her wealth of experience engaging with the Diaspora communities in the UK which has sped things up for Imo state government in mapping out a plan on how the sons and daughters of the state living abroad can impact the state positively from the year 2020 onwards.
Unfortunately, the global pandemic threw a spanner to those plans which prompted Ms Osakwe-Hibbert and her team to react quickly and change course of action by assisting the state government in waging a war against ‘hunger virus’ which was about to rear its head within the state because of the total lockdown imposed on the country by the Federal Government on March 23, 2020.
Vowing not to be deterred by the new realities, Ms Osakwe-Hibbert diverted her focus to giving palliatives by tapping into the financial resources of the Diaspora community and reaching out to villages in various Local Governments of the state while still engaging investors and partners online who can’t wait for the ban on international flight be lifted so they can come in and see things for themselves.
Under the young leadership of Ms Osakwe-Hibbert, the Imo state Diaspora community has contributed a lot to the state by carrying out women, youths and widows’ empowerment, skill acquisition and talent hunt under the Imo Diaspora Athletes Engagement Initiative where the likes of Emmanuel Emenike, Kelechi Iheanacho, Osita Nwachukwu amongst others are collaborating to make it a huge success.
In a media chat with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, Ms Osakwe-Hibbert said that what the Imo people need, and the country at large, is government instruments to actualize whatever they set out to achieve, noting that the Diaspora community are very generous as funds has never been a challenge, but the ability and capacity to harness these funds which makes her office very important as that’s one of the main reasons for her appointment.
“I will do everything within my powers to make sure that we achieve everything we set out to do. I get this dynamics, I get the potentials, I get the dreams because I am from the Diaspora and I’m here to work, I’m here to facilitate activities, I’m here to empower dreams and make your visions come through.
“I’m here to be that bridge between the people of Imo state and the Diaspora community and I will make sure this works because I am passionate, this is why I have come here. I’m not here to mess about, I’ve come here to make sure that everything we mentioned counts”, she stated.
Hon. Cllr. Celia Osakwe-Hibbert is a strong advocate for the disabled people in the society, ‘special citizens’ as she calls them, and she’s pushing for a bill that will make access to public buildings be designed in a way that it considers those on wheelchair without needing the assistance of other people.
Her work ethics is already being noticed in Imo state and is already attracting the right attention within a very short period of time, leaving one to say that the sky is her starting point as she continues to lead the Diaspora community in the state.
