The Maryland General Assembly, United States, on Wednesday hosted a Nigerian delegation to a dialogue aimed at promoting unity between indigenous and Diasporan ethnic groups of African descent.
Chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and her counterpart in the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, led the delegation.
Both officials were the special guests at the event, which was attended by the Speaker of the assembly, Delegate Adrienne Jones, the first female to occupy the office.
Also present were members of the black caucus in the House led by the Deputy Majority Whip, Delegate Darryl Barnes, and the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Sylvanus Nsofor.
Coinciding with the Black History Month celebrated every February in the US, the forum provided an opportunity for the delegation to showcase the country’s rich tourism attractions and investment opportunities.
In separate remarks, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa and Akande-Sadipe reminded Nigerian-Americans of their roots and emphasised the need for them to contribute their quota to the development of their fatherland.
The NIDCOM chairperson seized the moment to market the government’s ‘Door of Return’ programme, which seeks to encourage Nigerians in the Diaspora to return home and invest in their country.
Held in October every year, the programme features visits by Africans in the Diaspora and people of other races to the Badagry Slave Route in Badagry, Lagos.
The 2019 edition of the programme is captured in a documentary film titled, `Badagry: The Joy of Return’, produced by award-winning Nigerian documentary filmmaker, Ronke Macaulay.
The 15-minute film was screened alongside another that showcases the rich cultural and tourism potential of the Oyo Empire, at the event.
Different speakers at Wednesday’s forum called for unity among Africans, both on the continent and in the Diaspora, for the economic, social and political development of their communities and the continent.
Mrs Akande-Sadipe said all people of Africa descent were one regardless of their citizenship or where they lived on earth.
“The Jewish Nation has become very powerful because all Jews see themselves as one irrespective of where they are or their citizenship,” she said.
“I want us to have the African nation and make it a very powerful word; not the African American, not the Jamaican African, not the Caribbean African, but the African nation.
“The Jews are citizens of different countries but guess what, they are Jewish. We are citizens of different countries but we are Africans,” she said.
Dabiri-Erewa and Akande-Sadipe were honoured with awards by the assembly.
