Honouring African descendants living in diaspora Panacea for homecoming-Tourism Commissioner

By Alex Ibeh

The Imo State Commissioner for Tourism Barr. Jerry Egemba has stated that the Conferment of Chieftaincy title is the simplest solution to bring home African descendants living in diaspora.

On Saturday 19th October, 2024, the Imo State government through the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with a non-governmental Organization, African Diaspora Union (AFRIDU) honoured six African descendants with Chieftaincy titles as an incentive to bring them home.

Speaking with Newsmen shortly after the event, the Commissioner for Tourism, Barr. Jerry Egemba described it as a long standing dream that came through, adding that it was a national event, where the South, North and East were involved.

He further disclosed that every region in the country made claims that the program would be held in their land but what stood out was the successors traced their roots to Igboland.

According to him, anywhere in the world you go, you find a black man and any black man you see in any part of the world is an African.

Anywhere you find them, they are ill treated and humiliated, they are seen as second class citizens while they thrive for survival.

“And the agonizing part of it was that they left their fatherland involuntarily.
“Their forebears were taken to slave trade and forced out of their ancestral lands and converted to subhuman beings about 400 years ago.

“You could remember Martin Luther king, Malcolm X and the rest of them who insisted that the Africans are also human beings through their activism.”

“Their great ground Children began to have nostalgic feelings of when to return home where they will be treated with dignity and respect as a son of the soil”
“Hence, we began a process how to actualize it, there is need to bring them back home. And the proper thing is to confer rights as citizens of this country, even any other country in Africa can still do that because they are African.”

“And more importantly, bring them home for investment because majority of them are billionaires.

“We can offer them the opportunity to return home, acquire land either by gift or anything in order to invest, build their homes, and live here amongst their kith and kin, he recounted.

The six African descendants from Asia, America and Europe who have traced their origin to Nigeria and to Imo in particular were conferred with chieftaincy title.

The recipients were among over 2000 African descendants in diaspora to be conferred with Nigerian citizenship right by  President Ahmed Tinubu.