Why Peter Obi Has To Travel Abroad, Meet The Nigerian Diaspora In Bid To Turn Brain Drain To Brain Gain

August 25, 2022 Greg Abolo

The Oasis Reporters

August 25, 2022

The Labour Party gubernatorial candidate, Deacon Kawhariebie Ken Pela and the deputy governorship candidate, Prof.(Mrs) Julie Nwabogo Umukoro were at the departure lounge of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja to see off the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi shortly before his flight took off for Europe and the Americas to meet with Nigerians in the diaspora.

By Greg Abolo

@gregabolo

@Theoasisreport1

Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi has jetted off to the United States of America right after meeting with members of the National Consultative Front of his political party yesterday August 24, 2022.

This is coming, days on the heels of his highly successful presentation at Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) annual conference in the commercial capital city of Lagos.

En route to the U.S.A, I'll make a pit stop in Germany to interact with Nigerians in Germany. I hold Nigerians in Diaspora in very high esteem; pic.twitter.com/W0IEqmEJFb
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) August 25, 2022

Delta State’s Labour Party gubernatorial candidate, Deacon Kawhariebie Ken Pela meets with Labour Party’s presidential running mate, Dr. Yusuf Datti Ahmed before Mr. Peter Obi’s departure to Europe and the Americas.

*The Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Director General, Dr. Doyin Okupe chats with other members of the Labour Party National Consultative Front, before Peter Obi’s departure.*

Deacon Kawhariebie Ken Pela, Delta State LP gubernatorial candidate listens to an interesting point being made by Dr. Doyin Okupe, Presidential Campaign DG after the National Consultative Front meeting.

*National Chairman of Labour Party spotted in blue at the meeting.*

Delta State Labour Party gubernatorial candidate, Deacon Kawhariebie Ken Pela (right), with the deputy governorship candidate, Prof.(Mrs) Julie Nwabogo Umukoro at the departure lounge of MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.

Peter Obi is touring the United States. I will do everything I can to meet @PeterObi. I've never met an incoming president. ~ #Jeffrey4Obi pic.twitter.com/t6bIm9SvN9
— Dr. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) August 24, 2022

While on the visit abroad, he will touchdown in Germany, Canada and a few other countries.

The whole idea is for him to meet with the Nigerian Diaspora who are legion. Many of then fled Nigeria because things were just not working due to incompetent leadership and the general hopelessness pervading black Africa’s most populous nation.

Peter Obi is expected to exchange ideas with the diaspora and also to tap suggestions from them.

Majority of the diaspora Nigerians are people of high value and talent that were unfortunately trapped in the brain drain that corroded Nigeria in the years of the locust leadership.

So Obi would look at organizing and embracing them, thereby converting brain drain into brain gain. There’s the realization that no nation grows without its diaspora.

In telling the story of Diaspora influence in nation building, Contemporary Bible scholars would say that at some point, Jesus being taken out of Bethlehem on a flight to safety from insecurity, to Egypt, and his coming back years later was a diasporan Odyssey.

Just like the saga of Joseph the dreamer being sold into slavery and gaining prominence in Egypt to finally take his family out of famine and starvation, was another classic example of diasporan Odyssey.

As a nation, the state of Israel was built by its diaspora, centuries after the great dispersal of its people.

Thus no serious nation jokes with it’s critical diaspora. Little wonder that Kenya now allows its diaspora citizens to vote in it’s national elections.

The world saw it a few weeks ago when Kenyans rejected the preferred choice of its outgoing president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and chose a younger William Ruto, against the wishes of the entrenched interest, the cabal that believed in their divine right and control.

Nigeria’s diaspora remittances are said to hover around 48 billion dollars. If conditions are made more conducive, perhaps Diaspora remittances can move beyond stomach infrastructure remittances to investible funds, making it a critical part of FDI to reset Nigeria for growth, away from the sinking debt burden the APC government has unfortunately plunged the nation into.