Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, Qatar, has urged the Federal Government to establish a foreign mission in Doha to promote trade and investment ties between the two countries.
Its President, Victor Ikoli, said gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday at a conference organised by the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission to mark the National Diaspora Day.
He said: “There is no Nigerian Ambassador in Qatar. This makes decision-making slow. But we have a charge d’affaires.
“We have not had proper government representation which is posing a challenge bringing investment that will interest Nigerians because there are Nigerians interested in coming home to invest but are limited because information does not get to them.”
He added that the absence of an embassy in Doha was creating the problem of lack of important information that would enable diasporans in Qatar to take advantage of investment opportunities in Nigeria.
He said: “There is a Nigerian Business AL Qatar Council. The council is supposed to source for business in Qatar and bring to Nigeria or take Nigerian investment to Qatar.”
According to him, another challenge is that with 11,000 Nigerians in Qatar , there is an embassy that is functional but without a passport machine.
He said: “We have to wait every 6 to 7 months for a passport intervention team to come from the United Arab Emirates.
“There are about 400 Nigerians as I speak that need their passports renewed. We have approached the Nigerian immigration and embassy and told them that we need a passport machine at the embassy.
“This is a challenge.”
He added that the businesses of diasporans in Qatar had been thriving and growing from strength to strength.
He said that Nigeria stood to benefit immensely from the number of Nigerian professionals such as doctors, engineers, health and safety experts, and university dons living in Qatar.
He said: “Qatar is a strategic country and will be hosting the World Cup in 2022. So it has been growth so far for Nigerians living in there.”
Speaking on the benefit of the conference, he said that it was timely and significant as it brought diasporans together to share ideas and rub minds on how to exploit available investment opportunities for Nigerians living abroad.
He said: “We are fascinated about the inauguration of the Diaspora commission.
“It is a win-win situation for the diasporans because we get to meet the key players, interact with our colleagues and see how to work mutually for the betterment of Nigeria,
“Recently there was a conference in Europe – a global summit in Amsterdam – where different groups in the diaspora met. This can be developed if it is done consistently.
“This year’s Diasporan day theme is ‘The power of the Nigerian Diaspora for National Development’. Next year we hope they will discover something or conceive a better idea for us the diasporans to work with.
“With an enabling environment for us here it would encourage diasporans to come home and support the government.”