President Bola Tinubu has encouraged Nigerians in the U.S.
to rise above failure by having a change of mindset for success in all their
endeavours in life.
Tinubu gave the advice at the Presidential Townhall Meeting
with Nigerians in the diaspora on Wednesday in New York.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Townhall
Meeting was organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) on the
sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
“I want to give you a measure that will resonate with you. I
was once a diaspora. What you have been through, I have been through it. Change
of mind set is necessary.
“Take it this night that Nigeria is home for business
opportunities.
“Also, anywhere you stay, there is always going to be an
opportunity in, and in everything you do, there is always going to be an
opportunity, if you know how to search and put your mind into it,’’ he said.
The president, however, expressed delight in the conduct of
Nigerians who have continued to excel in their chosen fields in their host
country.
“You are lucky to be among those who are celebrated for good
manners and behavior and are operating in an acceptable manner.
“I’m very proud of you; I have also been beneficial of
inspiration, determination, commitment and perseverance and that is all you
need to get to pull through.
“But, we need you back home, Nigeria has arrived; forget the
frustration of the previous year’s leadership,’’ he said.
Tinubu, who commended the efforts on out-of-school children,
the healthcare programme and the need to eradicate poverty, said Nigeria was a
blessed country.
Tinubu said: “Sincerely, we don’t have any reason to be
poor, we are just poor in some leadership areas.
“That is what I harped on during my campaign. It was a very
gruesome campaign but I won the election but if I didn’t thrown myself into it
with strong determination and result, I wouldn’t have won.
“There were so many hurdles on my way that would have
stopped me. I refused to be stopped, you can do the same as many of you here
that are contesting elections.”
In addition, he urged the Nigerians to embrace one another,
urging that there should not be no sentiment and discrimination among them.
Tinubu said: “You ought to embrace one another. No labeling,
no identity, you should remove ethnic identify that tend to differentiate us.
“We are one single family, living in the same house but
living in different rooms,.”
Earlier, the Chairperson of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa
introduced some Nigerians excelling in their chosen fields in in the U.S. to
the president.
Some of them who spoke expressed their delight in the
leadership courage of the president, pledging to continue to support him in his
efforts to reform Nigeria.
They promised that they would continue to make Nigeria proud
in their host country and also contribute their quotas to the development of
the home country.
In his remarks, the first Nigerian-American elected into the
United States Congress, Oye Owolewa, said 25 per cent of business orders in the
U,S. were black and 1.7 per cent got federal contracts.
Owolewa, who represents Washington DC, said they have been
supporting people to take advantage ot such opportunities for their economic
empowerment.
“Those are the opportunities to make investors biggest in
New York.
“In my office, we do the talk, we teach our people how to
get contract, we teach our people how to get grants.,’’ he said.
Also speaking, a Nigerian-American, Olufunmilola Obe, an
Inspector working in the New York Police Department (NYPD), briefed the
president on her efforts to make Africa, especially Nigeria proud in her
office.
She told Tinubu that she
was the coordinator of an African Law Enforcement Organisation, an
association within the NYPD, as Vice President.
Obe is the first African ever to be promoted to the rank of
an Inspector in the history of NYPD.
NAN reports that the Town Hall Meeting was attended by the
Minister of Foreign of Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar; Minister of Marine and Blue
Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola and the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the
UN, Amb.Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Amb. Uzoma
Emenike; Consul General of Nigeria in New York, Amb. Lot Egopija; and Consul
General in Atlanta, Amb. Amina Samaila were also in attendance.
Others were: Gov. Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom; Gov. Uba Sani of Kaduna
State and Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara, among others.
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