By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja President Bola Tinubu on Friday urged Nigerian medical doctors and other healthcare professionals in the diaspora to return home and lend their expertise to the ongoing transformation of the nation’s healthcare sector under the Renewed Hope Agenda. President Tinubu stated this when he received a delegation of Nigerian Diaspora Medical Associations Worldwide led by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, as part of the 2026 National Diaspora Day Celebration at the State House, Abuja.
The event had in attendance the minister of information and national orientation Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi; the minister of state for health Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako; the special adviser to the president on media and public communications Chief Sunday Dare; the special adviser to the president on health Dr Salma Ibrahim Anas; and the senior special assistant to the president on women’s health Dr Adanna Steinacker. The president acknowledged that Nigeria needs the knowledge, innovation, experience and patriotism of its highly skilled professionals abroad to build a resilient and world-class healthcare system for all citizens. “It is a very great joy to see that you are coming back to facilitate your single motivation to help your country meet the needs of our people, the medical outreaches; seeing indivisible commitment to humanity is part of your singular oath and commitment in life.
“I have been through that journey; I’m home now, and I can tell you there’s nowhere like home. Some people built the society where you are; they had their hands on their plough, and their focus was to develop their nation and their continent.” The President recounted how he came to Nigeria after his experiences with Deloitte and Touche and working with Mobil (a company) and eventually came to Nigeria to contribute his quota to nation-building. He reaffirmed that the Renewed Hope Agenda places healthcare at the centre of national development, stressing that the federal government is implementing far-reaching reforms to strengthen primary healthcare, expand access to quality medical services and encourage greater collaboration with Nigerian professionals in the diaspora.
He said this would be achieved through sustained investments in medical education, research, digital health infrastruc… .Tinubu moves to harness diaspora expertise for healthcare reforms By Folarin Kehinde The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Friday called on the Federal Government to demand compensation for Nigerians who were forced to abandon their jobs, businesses and property in South Africa before returning home.
Speaking at the 2026 National Diaspora Day Celebration, NiDCOM Youth Summit and National Diaspora Merit Award in Abuja, Dabiri-Erewa described the ordeal of the affected Nigerians as pathetic, insisting that Nigeria should not ignore their plight. “That South Africa thing is pathetic, really. Nigeria should not look the other way.
We must demand compensation for Nigerians who have been roughly treated and who had to leave everything. They left everything they ever owned, and they’re back home and I know that their lives will be better as they’re back in Nigeria,” she said. Abike Dabiri-Erewa also disclosed that NiDCOM’s legal department has handled more than 1,200 cases involving detention, abuse and other forms of maltreatment of Nigerians abroad in collaboration with the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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