International businessman and vice president of the Nigerian Community in Turkey, Enifome Ubog, said on Thursday that about 70% of Nigerians residing in Turkey are illegal immigrants with expired documents or residence permits.
He said about 600,000 Nigerians, including students, currently reside in Turkey.
Mr. Ubogu, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Vusurat and Fome Nigeria Limited, said this in an interview with journalists at his office in Abuja after a two-day Diaspora Nigerian Investment Summit organized by the Nigerians in Diaspora Committee. He said:
He warned Nigerians, especially the youth, of the dangers of illegal immigration, noting that most Nigerians in Turkey are refusing to renew their residency or return to Nigeria after their visas expire.
Ubogu said, “Turkey is a very nice country. Probably due to the fact that it requires a lot of documentary work, the government rarely deports illegal immigrants.” When Nigerians go to a country, they first You should know that you should make sure that you are legal in the country.
“The majority of Nigerians living in Turkey, about 70 percent, are illegal immigrants. Some have expired residency rights or visas. We Nigerians must know what we are doing. The Nigerian government is not going to come to Turkey and force us to give them residency.
“Nigerians abroad should always follow the correct procedures to obtain valid residency rights.”
He spoke about the federal government’s call for more discrete investment and stressed the need for the government to create an enabling environment for businesses to grow.
Ubogu said the government’s focus on diaspora direct investment rather than foreign direct investment is a step in the right direction.
He said the initiative would give more overseas citizens the confidence to invest in the country.
“Nigerians living in Turkey remit about $20 million to Nigeria every year. But what are the results of these investments? Most of the time, they send money to their relatives for investment, but the money is lost. I often hear about situations where things have been repurposed.
“However, if this NDIS platform is properly leveraged, investors will be able to bring their money into the country with more confidence knowing it is safe,” he said.
Ubogu called on the government to ensure homogeneity in foreign exchange (foreign exchange), adding that multiple exchange rates discourage discrete investment.
“Apart from the logistics issue, the exchange rate is also an issue. Until we unify the exchange rate, there will always be problems. We need to achieve universal tariffs where everyone is treated equally. “Some people set up offshore companies to beat this system, but they can still capture all those profits by adopting a single exchange rate,” he stressed.
