Nigeria Will Continue To Assist In Development Of African, Caribbean, And Pacific Countries, Says TAC DG

Rt.Hon.Yusuf Buba Yakub, Director General of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps, has stated that Nigeria will continue to use its abundant human resources to aid the development of African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries and their people.

The DG made the promise at a reception in Abuja this weekend to welcome TAC Scheme Volunteers who had completed their two-year service in Uganda and The Gambia.

He also stated that one of the Scheme’s primary benefits is that it allows Volunteers to share their unique knowledge and experience from the countries in which they have served with other Nigerians.

Yakub, while commending the 14 returned Volunteers on behalf of the Federal Government for making Mr President and Nigerians proud by pursuing part of the Tinubu Administration’s Foreign Policy Objectives, stated that Nigeria, outside of a number of the world’s largest nations, remains the only nation that has for nearly forty years continued to provide free technical assistance to ACP countries.

He stated: “The United Kingdom has UKAid; the United States has USAID; and China has China Aid. Nigeria has Nigerian Technical Aid. Each of the aforementioned has contributed to humanity’s progress in some way. For nearly forty years, the Technical Aid Corps has been used to advance South-South cooperation in over forty countries, and counting.

“In recent weeks, we have continued to deploy to various ACP countries. In the coming weeks, we plan to deploy to more of these countries. Those who have returned have made the President and all Nigerians proud, as we continue to see and hear about their accomplishments in the communities they have served.

“A few weeks ago, we had a reason to visit the Caribbean. In all of our interactions with government officials in Jamaica, Belize, Guyana, Barbados, and elsewhere, the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps is highly sought after, and its popularity has grown to the point where we have high-ranking government officials who have participated in the scheme. Who knows, we might have a President tomorrow in one of these recipient countries who has also been tutored by TAC Volunteers.

“In Jamaica today, skills like making and using our crafts and artefacts are commonplace. Even our local batik, Adire, is currently being taught to Jamaicans by a TAC Volunteer who has no intention of returning to Nigeria. Today, Jamaicans have christened their versions of “Adire” and “Jadire” and are delighted to share this cultural diplomacy with Nigeria.

“Our position, therefore, is that we must continue to assist our brothers in the ACP countries in becoming better. Even if it is for free or for a fee, as we at TAC plan for skills in some areas of expertise, we will continue to deliver on the TAC mandate, seeing the benefits for the people we serve and the Volunteers who return to the country with a lot of experience and impact in our lives,” the TAC DG stated.

Earlier, a representative of the Team Leader of the batch of Volunteers from Uganda, Prof. Airat Sulaiman, a Development Psychologist who worked at the Islamic University in Uganda, thanked the Federal Government for the opportunity to participate in the Scheme and praised the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps for exceeding expectations in providing welfare and other timely logistics to their Volunteers. She also revealed that some of the Volunteers had found work in the institutions where they had previously served.

Others who spoke among the Volunteers, including Dr. Chinwe Igiri, a PhD holder in Software Engineering, and Engr. Terseer Ako of the University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, said the experience was worthwhile and that wherever they had served in the host countries, they had requested to be retained without first returning to Nigeria, which went against the terms of the TAC Scheme.

Out of the 14 Volunteers who received the Certificate of Participation in the TAC Scheme, 13 returned from Uganda and one from The Gambia.