FRESH projections indicate that Nigerians living abroad will contribute as much as $3trn to the economy compared with the current $21bn once the much-vaunted Diaspora Commission is up and running. 

President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to establish a diaspora commission to take care of the interest of Nigerians living in different parts of the world and also enable them to contribute towards international development. Eager to get the president to tap into the potential of the millions of Nigerians who live abroad, the Buhari Friends Organisations Network has begun drawing up plans that will give the diaspora role in the government. 

Already, the National Assembly has approved a bill creating the commission and President Buhari is expeted to sign the bill into law soon. He then has to staff the commission with personnel who will get it up and running. 

Global remittances from diasporans to Nigeria in 2014 totalled about $21bn as the country is among the world's top five remittance economies along with India, China, The Philippines and Mexico. According to the World Bank, Nigeria remained the largest recipient of diaspora receipts in sub-Saharan Africa and is a key player in the $436bn global remittance industry. 

However, according to Chief Temitope Ajayi, a passionate advocate of the Diaspora Commission and a member of the National Conference, popularly known as Mama Diaspora, the current figure could swell. Mrs Ajayi, who lives and works in the US, said that the 30 million Nigerians in the diaspora were keen on building and deploying their resources into 1m homes in Nigerian in conjunction with the Federal Mortgage Bank in the first phase of their contributions. 

She explained that the interest of the group in focussing on housing stemmed from the shortage of decent accommodation in major cities and rural areas of Nigeria. Mrs Ajayi added that Nigerians in the diaspora were very excited about the passage of the bill establishing the Diaspora Commission by the Senate barely three months after the House of Representatives had given its nod to the bill. 

 "The Diaspora Commission will also afford Nigerians living outside the country the opportunity to contribute more of their quota towards nation building and investing in Nigeria’s economic development. We, in the diaspora, are very excited about the development and I want to assure Nigerians that we will work with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure its success by pooling our resources to work for this country in a way that has never been done before,” Mrs Ajayi added. 

She, however, advised President Buhari to appoint credible members of the diaspora into the commission to ensure its success. A bill establishing the Diaspora Commission was among the 46 bills recently passed by the seventh Senate before it wound down its activities last week and President Buhari is expected to assent to the bill soon.