Welcome to The Nigerian Diaspora. Fix it & You Fix Nigeria.

 Like almost all Nigerians in diaspora, on every single day I have a roof over my head, countless different type of meals and drinks, 24-hour electricity, nice car with a full tank, all tarred roads, street lights, 24 hour internet on my phone and lap-top, 24 hour security, a job, suit and tie, different types of transport available if I do not want to drive, the guarantee that tomorrow is taken care of… you get the gist. It may sound like am dreaming, I am NOT! This is real.

 In London and throughout the UK, ALL Nigerians live like this. They live the Nigerian dream. In fact they are the dream Nigerian; Nigerians are doctors, professors, Judges, IT Gurus, Business Owners, Top directors handling budgets of billions of GBP with hundreds of thousands of white people under them, a Nigerian dream. Nigerians in the UK are living to their maximum, in maximum conditions, consistently. The Queen of England has recognised at least 7 Nigerians I know of, for their excellence in UK society, enough to make you proud, and this is only the first generation of Nigerians-The ones who have lived abroad for over 20 years having spent the first part of their lives in Nigeria. Their profile read the same, all of them attended or finished secondary and maybe university (where possible) in Nigeria before travelling abroad. Just to make sure you get the story, we are all “Made in Nigeria”

With all our wealth and achievements, why are Nigerians in diaspora not able to mirror what we want Nigeria to look like here? There are millions of us with absolutely everything missing in Nigeria.

In diaspora, its Bentley, Rolls-Royces, and Range Rovers, one house after the next, children go to private schools, expensive holidays, move to expensive area, private healthcare, investment for my kids and grandkids, when Nigerian politician come, I want the connection. Property in Nigeria, contract in Nigeria, maybe give to some charity or not… etc. I may have forgotten so many to add but generally this is what happens in the diaspora. This is how we live amongst ourselves.

There is nothing wrong with this, I may add.  I am very proud of what Nigerians have achieved for themselves “personally” over the last 40 years in the diaspora. As a collective, however, everything is wrong with it, because we have not got the foundations right and the disadvantages of that is now coming back to bite us.

This will make you look at how Nigerians in Diaspora are using their wealth and achievements. It makes me think we are missing development and a sense of pride and we can get it from doing the right things.

• We cannot organise ourselves together as a unit with all our education, success, and wonderful conditions.
• We do not have any co-operation or hierarchy amongst us with all our education, success, and wonderful conditions.
• We do not have a community centre or an area like other Diaspora communities in England with all our education, success, and wonderful conditions.
• We are waiting for the Nigerian Govt to do things for us here
• We do not have a Nigerian house that reflects the successful foundations Nigerians have laid here.
• Nigerians in difficulty here cannot get any support from the Nigerian Community, legally or otherwise.
• Nigerian children do not marry Nigerians (Based on which state you are from) for many reasons
• Our children do not speak our language (Based on which state you are from) for many reasons

The above basic things we cannot do are equivalent to the same things that are not been done in Nigeria (Poverty is relative). If you are an under-privileged Nigerian in London, nothing for you! It is the British Government only and not the millions of people from your community.

Sadly, this is how communities are graded and the lack-of-care for our Nigerian community has now become so obvious for other diasporan communities to see. It is more annoying for them to watch because they know we have the means to do better. The other Diasporan communities in England mostly have all the above things listed, even younger communities who arrived in England later than the Nigerian Community can organise themselves better than us with respect to all the things mentioned above.

The advantages of being able to organise the Nigerian Diaspora are endless. This is literally like a new independent body/ Government that can support or challenge the Nigerian Government effortlessly in many respects. Imagine £1.00 from every Nigerian here in the UK will be over £1m a month. An amount like that monthly, when managed properly, will solve Nigerian’s problems and create opportunities, including the influence the diaspora needs to shape Nigeria. A structure like this can serve everybody and go on for generations. It will give us our pride back as a people and a nation. Believe me Nigerians in diaspora have and want to give this money and more. It can never materialise until we face the same nitty gritty problems amongst us; the “made in Nigeria Problems”.

Using jealously, envy, greed and a lack of trust in a place where we are given so many opportunities, protection and security is frankly a very sluggish excuse. It is us. our diaspora “personal” mindset of me and my family. Changing that should be our priority target.

We need a system and hierarchy in place in the Nigerian Diaspora built by the Nigerian Diaspora. We no longer want to be known for big job, house and cars, but no backbone.

If the relationship and structure in the Nigerian diaspora can get better, then a “better Nigeria” beckons if we really want it

If you live in Nigeria and reading this article, anytime you hear a Nigerian in Diaspora tell you they want to rule Nigeria in any capacity, ask them to go and fix their diaspora community, so you can see it working, as an example of what he or she wants to do in Nigeria. Honestly, which one is really harder?

The Editor