Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has explained some of the challenges faced by her Commission.
Dabiri-Erewa in a video that has gone viral said the minister of Communications
and Digital Economy, Isa Patami, who drove them out of the apartment given to
them by the NCC.
She, however, said despite the fact that NIDCOM is part of the government and
the said apartment was still vacant, the Minister evicted them within a two-day
notice and locked up with place with armed men.
Narrating her ordeal, she explained that she was out of Nigeria when a caller informed her of the quit notice.
She said, “ I have learnt that you don’t get bogged down by challenges. I have always faced challenges. There were challenges when I was working with the NTA. There were challenges when I was in the parliament.
“ What is important is the commitment of the people working with you. And I have committed people working with me. In fact, their zeal actually amazes me.
“One year down the line, we don’t even have an office. The office we got
through NCC, we were driven out by the Minister of Communication and Digital
Economy, Isa Patami. Within two days, he drove us out with guns. You know we
all help each other. NCC as an agency of government said there is a place we
can settle in. And we moved in. I was in Ethiopia when I got a call. I thought
it was a joke. I got the call about the quit notice on Tuesday and returned on
Thursday and by Friday when I got to the office, armed policemen had taken over
the place with guns. And the place is still there , a whole floor. All our
property are locked up there. And here is the thing, I’m a government employee,
so is he. It’s government business. Do I go to the street and start fighting? I
said no.I decided I was going to take a higher moral ground. I have written to
the appropriate authority and it’s being handled at that level. But we are
still working. We are involved in the evacuation process despite all that. We
did not allow it to bog us down. So after COVID-19, we will sort it out. But I
know that posterity will judge.”