Barring any last-minute issues, the management of Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, a real estate firm, has expressed its readiness to partner with the National Assembly and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on improving foreign direct investment (FDI) and diaspora remittances to the country.
This is just as both NASS and the ministry expressed their willingness to encourage rewarding partnerships with genuine investors at home and abroad like Pelican Valley and the Nigerian Canada Business Networks (NCBN), among others to attract FDI to the country.
These assurances came when a delegation of the CEO of Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, Babatunde Adeyemo; promoter of Kajola Resort Canada, Dr Olukunle Ibitoye; NCBN chairman, King Wale Adesanya and the group managing director of Xtrarge Farms & Resorts, Dr Moji Davids visited both the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja.
The visits were premised on the need to consolidate on the gains of the successful conclusion of the 7th edition of the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit (NDIS) organised by the Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) and co-sponsored by Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited.
Briefing his hosts, Adeyemo said that, having created indelible marks in the real estate sector in Ogun State, it was time for Pelican Valley to expand by seeking partnerships with the relevant committees of the National Assembly, foreign affairs ministry and Nigerians in diaspora to drive foreign direct investments into Nigeria.
He harped on the need to change the narrative about the country, using his over 14 years of practice in real estate with due diligence, integrity, and quality delivery without cutting corners, litigation or police cases to let the world know that there are still many honest, dependable and trustworthy Nigerians to do genuine business with the Nigerians in the diaspora.
In his response, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, said the time had come for the partnership to begin, explaining that because of the peculiar nature of the ministry, its eyes are on everything, including real estate, as it all boils down to the image of the country in the end.
Amb Tuggar, who was represented by the Director of Economic, Trade and Investment at the ministry, Ambassador Akinremi Bolaji, expressed readiness to work with Pelican Valley and other members of the delegation.
He said, “Let me say this very loud and clear, you are the shakers and movers of events at all times (in your subsector). The fact that you attended the NDIS, says a lot and I’m really proud of you guys.
“That you have gone the extra mile of coming to the office to meet us, we are going to put this clearly in our record that Nigerians are coming forward to warm up to the foreign ministry so that we can start a partnership. This partnership certainly we need it and it is long overdue.”
In the same vein, Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora, Senator Victor Umeh, expressed his desire to promote genuine real estate investors in the country, noting that genuine local investors such as Pelican Valley are what the Nigerians in the diaspora are craving.
According to him, it is his strong desire to mobilise the committee to work with the NIDCOM towards compiling a database of verifiable and genuine Nigerian entrepreneurs like Pelican Valley with whom they can jointly push forward as dependable real estate practitioners for Nigerians in the diaspora to do business with.
Similarly, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Sir Tochukwu Chinedu Okere, emphasised the need to create awareness for Nigerians who are doing well both at home and in the diaspora for support through recommendation of their services and products at the right quarters of the international communities.
Hon. Okere hailed the Leadership and Governance Canada Summit held in Toronto, Canada, describing it as a success even as he expressed his sincere and patriotic desire to see subsequent summits reflect the nation’s true geopolitical zones in its participation.
He said, “We need to encourage those that are doing well and also find a channel to create awareness for some of these things because we need to know more because we travel to other areas.
“We connect people so that we can all work together because those in the diaspora also find it difficult to trust Nigerians.
“So, they depend on some of us to link them with the right people at the right time. I think as I discussed with Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, we need to build a kind of hub or ark that can accommodate various types of investments so that it will be one touch. So, if you have access to that kind of hub/ark, it will help all of us to make decisions at a faster rate.”
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