Viktor Ikoli (left), President of NIDO-Qatar, with a member of the community during the meeting.
Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, (NIDO-Qatar), on Friday, held its Annual General Meeting and highlighted the organisation’s achievements in the last two years.
The event was held at La Cigale Hotel in the presence of over 50 expatriates from Nigerian community. NIDO-Qatar also invited guests from the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this year’s Annual General Meeting, celebrating not only our 2018/2019 accomplishments, but also 10 years’ since we transformed from Dohanaija to Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation,” NIDO-Qatar President, Victor Ikoli, said at the outset of the meeting.
Speaking of last year’s achievement, he said, it was a demanding and successful year. “This would not have been possible without the hard work and perseverance of the executive council members, all of whom have contributed their time and skills to improve and sustain the organisation and community.”
“I call on well-meaning Nigerians to be part of the group as it is the desire of NIDO to serve as a platform through which the tremendous expertise, skills and resources, as well as the patriotic spirit of the Nigerians in the Diaspora, could be effectively and efficiently harnessed for Nigeria’s socio-economic growth.
As you are all aware, Nigerians in Diaspora are the country’s biggest asset and no longer oil. We must unite and see the organisation like our own, join us in making Nigeria great. The task is not only for executives but for all Nigerians, we are the future and home is home,” he said.
About the recent developments, Ikoli pointed out: “We undertook many projects to prepare for this moment, some you can see, and many you can’t. First of this is the Passport Intervention Exercise. Under our watch, we ensured regular passport intervention exercise was held twice a year.
Last year, about 600 passports were made either for renewal or fresh applications for newborns. Also, we ensured the abolition of QR250 service charge on passport through the support of the then ambassador, late Abdullahi Wase.
Also, we have opened a line of communication with the relevant authority in Nigeria on having a permanent machine at the Embassy of Nigeria in Qatar.”
“Our five-year relationship with the Supreme Committee got stronger in 2019 following the participation of the community in key events of the 2022 World Cup organising body including the FIFA Club World Cup, CAF Super Cup, IAAF World Athletics Championship and Lusail Stadium launch.
During this period, some of our officials were trained and some would be trained by the Supreme Committee for future engagements and collaborations. Presently, there are over a thousand Nigerian in the Lusail Stadium construction,” he added.
Moreover, he said, the organisation has also built a strategic partnership with Qatar Red Crescent: “We are set to enter an agreement under the One World Project aimed at supporting communities through humanitarian assistance, training programme, labour, sports programmes, ladies summer programme, and social-cultural programme,” he said.
“We have maintained a cordial relationship with the Nigerian Diaspora Commission since there inauguration,” said Ikoli adding: “Our invitation to the commission to attend this AGM was received and they promised to honour future invitations.
We have a cordial relationship with different Nigerian diaspora groups globally to collaborate on projects and ways to promote Nigeria. NIDO Europe and NIDO Asia have been our strongest allies. We exchange ideas and have attended meetings in Europe and presently working to hold the NIDO Asia AGM in Singapore in 2020.”
