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Prof Isa Odidi with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, left
Professor Isa Odidi is a household name having carved a niche for himself as a distinguished Medical professional, innovator and captain of industry. He is the Director, Diaspora Groups of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) for this month’s presidential elections.
By Ibraheem Hamza Muhammad
What did you tell members of your directorate at your meeting in Abuja?
As Director, Diaspora Groups PDP 2023 Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), I told them that we were gathered to round off the first part of the 2023 PCC Diaspora Directorate campaign that as inaugurated last year by our visionary leader, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, our party’s Presidential Candidate and former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria/ That was when I was appointed as its director.
You left your family abroad and came to home address your directorate physically, what was your message to the event?
I told them that, the PDP 2023 PCC Diaspora campaign organization is charged with the responsibility to design, establish and implement a systematic approach to engage with and win the hearts and minds of Nigerians and friends of Nigerians in the Diaspora to support Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy and vision for Nigeria and by so doing give our Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar and his Vice-Presidential nominee Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, an edge over other aspirants in the forthcoming Nigerian presidential elections scheduled for 25th February 2023.
What is the importance of the Directorate to the Diaspora in particular and the country in general?
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar understands that Nigerians in Diaspora are one of the contemporary global forces shaping the directions and trends of public opinion
in Nigeria especially on social media and are expected to impact on the political campaign and electioneering process in Nigeria as the 2023 presidential
election approaches. This is why it was important for PDP to partner and join forces with the Nigerian Diaspora by setting up the PDP PCC Diaspora Directorate. The Nigerian Diaspora has now become the PDP’s greatest
offshore political asset. The huge presence of Nigerian diaspora in such powerful political and economic centers such as London, Paris, New York, Washington DC, Beijing, Moscow and Tokyo where global policy decisions are made has an especially important strategic significance. These expertise and experiences can be of benefit to a political campaign and a nation. However, all
these translate to nothing if the leadership is wrong and the system is not working, a view that Nigerians in Diaspora share in common with Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar. The PDP PCC has taken full advantage of these vast untapped potentials of Nigerian Diaspora.
Why are you and like minds supporting the candidature of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar?
Nigerians in the diaspora are pleased to note that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar recognizes the fact that Nigerians in the diaspora have made increasingly significant contributions to the countries they now live in. For example, economic development, healthcare, science, technology, industry, trade, arts, and media have all been affected in some way by the presence of Nigerians in these countries. Nigerians in Diaspora believe that he is the leader who will finally articulate and implement a diaspora policy framework to help capture, harness and channel their expertise and goodwill to the Nigerian homeland. His government will certainly do more to remove obstacles and create opportunities for Nigerians in diaspora to engage in economic development by facilitating diaspora contributions to the homeland and serving the Nigerian diaspora.
What was the message of your members who are in the diaspora but did not attend the meeting physically?
I have come here with messages from Nigerians in Diaspora, they have asked me to thank Atiku Abubakar for setting up the Diaspora Campaign Office. They have also requested that I convey their gratitude to him for recognizing the relevance of Nigerian Diaspora and the role they must play in the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
What do your Directorate members want to contribute to Nigeria if Atiku wins?
Nigerians in Diaspora also want me to tell the Nigerian electorate that they believe that Atiku Abubakar’s good governance will create the enabling environment for Nigerian Diaspora to contribute their expertise and innovation for socio-economic development and industrialization of Nigeria. This is the reason why in the Nigerian Diaspora, Atiku is now trending as the best candidate with support of majority of Nigerians in Diaspora. Nigerians in Diaspora want Nigerians to know that they unequivocally support Atiku Abubakar for President of Nigeria. Nigerians in Diaspora have promised to leverage on their goodwill to influence their extended families, dependents, and associates in Nigeria to vote in favor of Atiku Abubakar during the forthcoming presidential election.
How do you plan to the growth and development of the country?
We are interested in working with Atiku/Okowa on assumption of office to facilitate the process of trans-national activities and networks and act as development bridge-builders between their host communities abroad and Nigeria. Furthermore, they are with the view that this relationship with a transformational leadership will enable them to channel information, innovative ideas, intellectual capacities, new technological skills, smart and innovative business and trade practices, peacemaking tools and techniques and democratic political habits and practices from their host countries to Nigeria.
What is your reaction that Nigeria is a comlpex country to govern?
The complexity of the challenges that Nigeria is now undergoing requires the joining of all the available social and political forces, social capital, intellectual ideas, economic means, creative initiatives and activities (both domestic and international) and the redoubling of the existing efforts. This compelling urgency therefore necessitates mobilizing the considerable social and political capital of the huge Nigerian Diaspora population abroad for the promotion of sustainable and a large-scale political, social and economic development in Nigeria.
Do Atiku and Okowa believe in your zeal and determination to develop the country?
Atiku Abubakar and Okowas believes that the contribution of the Nigerian Diaspora to development and political efforts in Nigeria is now more indispensable than ever. Now is the time for Nigerians in Diaspora to be part of the political process and participate in the positive changes they wish to see in their mother land Nigeria. We believe that Atiku/Okowa and Nigerians in Diaspora will work together to recover and fix Nigeria!
