The Nigeria Technical Aid Corps NTAC says in a couple of weeks, the Nation will start exporting it’s labour to all parts of the world.
During an event to commence the deployment of thirty-five medical volunteers to Zanzibar, Tanzania in Abuja, the Director General of the Corps, Alhaji Yusuf Buba stated that already, the Jamaican government had applied to engage 400 Nigerian experts for a fee, thereby addressing unemployment.
He explained that more Countries had started requesting for Nigerian experts and that the process had commenced by the Attorney General of the Federation.
Alhaji Yusuf Buba explained that the Foreign policies of the Nigerian Government were making relationships among African nations stronger and more united.
“And today, government is assisting 35 medical practitioners to leave the country. What is the need for Nigerians? Nigeria is a big country and a superpower in Africa. And in the spirit of South-South cooperation, and in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, we will have to continue to share with our fellow blacks all over the world”.
“If you had watched your television yesterday, you will see where the president of Gambia was appreciating the Federal Republic of Nigeria, specifically President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, for bringing Africa to the limelight. And you cannot achieve that until you share what you have. If you travel within Africa today, it is very difficult to connect because the level of businesses amongst ourselves is very low”.
“But with this spirit and with this initiative of the 4D foreign policy initiative of Mr. President, I think Africa is becoming stronger and we are becoming united. And with this gesture, Africa will come on top among the committee of nations”.
He explained that the level of businesses had been low among Africa and that Nigeria would continue to share expertise across the world in the Pan-African spirit.
He advised the volunteers to show patriotism and hard work while carrying out their duties.
“They are volunteering to go out there to serve humanity briefly and come back to their place of work in Nigeria. And you know Nigerians are hard-working people, just like I mentioned earlier. Today in some countries, our volunteers are taking up leadership positions. Like in Gambia, we have vice chancellors of universities and we have deputy vice chancellors and we have judges in other countries and so on. So we are calling on our volunteers to make sure that they put in their best to see that they portray the name of Nigeria out there”.
“The main target is to portray our name and our image. That is soft power diplomacy. And as I always say, we are not only in Africa but in the Caribbean and in the Pacific. And because of the activities of these volunteers, today Nigeria Technical Aid Corps is transforming into a revenue generating agency. Because the last time I went to Jamaica, in the course of discussion, we said since our volunteers have been doing well and countries are developing confidence in the Nigerian citizens because of the work of our volunteers, we can also give out services for free. And the Jamaican government has now applied for 400 expats from Nigeria that they will fully pay for”.
“And so, apart from transforming into a revenue generating agency, we are solving the issue of unemployment. All of us know that we have millions and millions of unemployed Nigerians who are resorting to what we call JAPA, going out of the country to seek for something to do through illegal migration. But with what we are doing today, countries have started to ask for our expertise for a fee and that will generate revenue for our country and it will eliminate unemployment”.
“That process is at its advanced stage today. The Attorney General of the Federation is working on the new agreement and I am sure in a couple of weeks, Nigeria will start exporting its labour with dignity to all parts of the world. And so, the issue of unemployment will start to diminish until we will not have a problem with unemployment anymore”.
The Director General explained that with the thorough selection process, the volunteers would be committed and not default from the rules.
“So, there is always punishment if you default.
But the screening process we go through before picking the best as our volunteers, we hardly record the issue of default or the issue of any volunteer absconding. We always send out the best because the target is to portray the image of Nigeria to the rest of the world, which we are achieving greatly. No, not at all”.
“As I mentioned earlier, like in Gambia, we have professors in different fields and they are even taking charge of the administration of different universities in that country. We also send out artisans. Like in Jamaica, one of our volunteers have exported adiré, our popular attire, to Jamaica”.
“And today, the Jamaican government has established a factory or an industry or a textile producing adiré and the name has even changed to Jadiré. And like a month ago, there was an exhibition in the US of this, our popular adiré, by the Jamaicans. And our volunteer is heading that organization”.
“So, you can see that we are everywhere. We send out artisans, we send out professors in different fields, and they go out there and serve for two years and come back to Nigeria. And the plus there is that we are not only impacting the life of those countries, but when you expose your citizens to the other environment, they come back with knowledge too. They come back with experiences. You will not, as a citizen of Nigeria, appreciate what Nigeria is until you go out to other countries. Nigeria is a big country, very big”.
“We have grown so huge, but you won’t know what I’m saying until you send out your citizens to go out there. And then, above all, cultural exchange. When they go out there, they learn other people’s culture. So, tomorrow, if they become leaders, there will be peace and harmony among our nations. Because if you don’t know each other’s culture, you will always have quarrels and problems. But if you know each other’s culture, there will be peace and respect for each other’s culture”.
Some of the volunteers, two nurses, Mohammed Garba and Maryjane Okezie described being a volunteer as an opportunity to project Nigeria in a positive light.
“I am Mohamed Garba. I’m a pediatric nurse by specialty. I’m one of the volunteers that have been deployed to Zanzibar by the technical air corps. And we give glory to God for this opportunity. And our prayers is that let us do the needful and do as the task requires. And for sure, one thing that is not negotiable is let us be a good ambassador of our country. And this is what we are going to make sure that we keep to it. And to give a good name for our country, Nigeria, through this program”.
“My name is Okezie Maryjane Nzubechi and I’m a registered nurse. And I’m one of the volunteers for the deployment to Zanzibar. So our job there is to help those that sick, to care for them. And this is a very big opportunity for every one of us. And we really appreciate everything that they are doing for us, like Nigeria in general. So we’ll make sure we do our best and represent our country properly as we are supposed to”.
Toscad news reports that since inception thirty-eight years ago, the Corps has deployed over ten thousand Nigerian experts to various countries across the globe.
