By Kelvin Ojimadu
On Monday, the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Mehmet Poroy, sought collaboration with the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) to strengthen bilateral relations on diaspora engagement between the two countries.
The Ambassador said when he paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s Chairman/CEO, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in Abuja that both Nigeria and Turkey shared similarities as countries with more citizens living abroad. Nigeria has 17million citizens abroad while Turkey has 7.5million diasporans.
He went further by saying 6.5million of them are living in Europe, while the rest are scattered in America and other parts of the world.
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The envoy, proclaimed that Nigerians currently living in Turkey were 5,000, expressed his embassy’s readiness to work with the office NiDCOM for ways to better his country’s diaspora engagement.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in response appreciated the ambassador’s visit, assuring him that the commission was ready to partner with the Turkish government to learn and grow together.
She further stated that the more reason for the partnership to happen was to deepen the relationship of Nigeria and Turkey and that both countries have similarities in various ways.
Nigerian diasporas are said to be the most intelligent in the US and UK and with over 17million Nigerians living around the world.
She said: “Turkey has been friendly to Nigerian students studying in the country and I promise to return the visit. I promise to work and partner to share information and to collaborate with the Turkish diaspora commission,”
