Newsletter
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From the President’s Desk - Dr. Yinka Tella
With more than 177 million, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. It is
inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups, including the Hausa and Fulani (29%),
Yoruba (21%), Igbo (18%), Ijaw (10%), Kanuri (4%), Ibibio (3.5%), and the
Tiv (2.5%) and Edo state. English is the official language although Nigeria boasts
of more than 500 indigenous languages, including Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.
Remittances from about 18 million Nigerians in the diaspora, about 12% of whom
are United States-based, constitute the country’s second largest source of income.
In 2007 Nigerian Americans accounted for much of the $17.9 billion (about 6.7%
of GDP) remitted to the homeland, followed in pecking order by their counterparts
in the Unit
the International Organization for Migration.
As Nigerian Americans, we have the responsibility of caring for our extended
families at home in addition to investing in the local economy to facilitate
economic development, hence the high level of remittances. To keep up the
momentum, however, we need to hone our skills and become more empowered
economically and politically with the American firmament. The Nigerian
American Foundation intends to be a more proactive actor in creating the
enabling environment for our community to prosper and earn the respect that we
deserve.
We have a number of programs lined up to harness the innate energy, creativity
and talents of our people for a more consequential presence in South Florida. We
have already started with the NAF Forum which debuted last month with a great
presentation on how to enter the manufacturing pipeline in South Florida
presented by Broward College’s Robin Swanson; an aggressive recruitment and
email mining drivel; as well as an initiative to amend our constitution to
make it reflective and inclusive of all components of the 4000 strong
Nigerian community in South Florida.
While you will learn about various components of our agenda in this
newsletter and other media, we invite you to be part of the change we seek:
A strong and respected Nigerian voice in the tri-county area of South
Florida, a thriving, unified and progressive community that is culturally
aware, professionally and economically equipped, and politically potent.
Reaching Out
