My fellow Nigerians and friends, it is with great pride and sense of honor that I welcome you to the Nigerians-in-Diaspora Organization, fondly called “NIDO-America”. We, Nigerians living in the Americas, established this organization in order to harness our sheared sense of community and to celebrate our common diasporal nationality and heritage.

We start our definition of NIDO-America from our shared belief that Nigerian-Americans constitute a top cream of professionals, academics, students, entrepreneurs, diplomats and international civil servants. By virtue of our positions in America, coupled with our continued love and commitment to the motherland, we stand a good chance to join hands together to assist the homeland, and thereby strengthen our positions in America. We, the members of NIDO-America, are motivated by this premise and common aspiration. We believe in the American ideals of rule of law, democracy, human progress and development and we desire to extend these ideals wherever possible to the motherland. NIDO-America, therefore, is established to create and maintain a proper and effective platform for us to realize our dream of a better Nigeria and stronger Nigerian-American communities.

There are many justifications for you to join NIDO-America today in order to support both our country of birth and, by a logical extension, our country of residence. Have no doubts about it; you have a lot to contribute to Nigeria and to your American community. Let us look at the NIDO idea in its basic sense: you are possibly a doctor, a lawyer, a social worker, a professor, a business person, or a professional in good standing, a student. Whatever you do in America, you have worked hard and competed well with the finest in your chosen profession or career. As a result (or in the process) of your position, you have gained tremendous opportunity to learn and have acquired useful experience. We can also safely assume that you must have wished that you had an opportunity to put that wealth of experience and learning to the benefit of your fellow Nigerians here in America and those at home.

It must be that you are constantly, and I dare to say personally, challenged each time you realize that those simple social problems you have been well trained to solve, and do solve, in America often constitute serious problems in our home country. The Nigerian-American doctor wonders why children die so often of basic diseases such as typhoid fever and flu. The Nigerian engineer in America similarly wonders why is it that Nigerian roads and streets are flooded each time it rains. Every Nigerian professional in America is baffled also each time he or she sees how routine problems of development pose serious huddles to our country and he or she wishes there was an opportunity to solve these problems. In the same vein, we all constantly agonize when we realize that despite the fact that most of us Nigerian-Americans are law-abiding members of the society, some few elements on the margin, through their conducts and disregard of law and constituted authorities, tend to cast a blemish on all of us as if all Nigerians were bad people. You have both a role and responsibility to change the situation, and now is the time. This organization (NIDO) offers us that opportunity. It is an opportunity to network and partner with fellow Nigerians across a diversity of professional backgrounds. It is an opportunity to contribute to Nigeria’s development. It is an opportunity to shine and show to the whole world that we, Nigerians, are primarily and principally and essentially good people to do business with.

Joining NIDO-America is as simple as you can imagine. You are eligible to join if you live either in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico or South America. All you need to do is to go to the application section of this website titled “How To Become A Member”. Download an application form, fill it out and hit “sent”. Otherwise, call or sent an e-mail to any of the numbers or address shown in the application form and you would be guided to membership.

Again, welcome to NIDO-America. NIDO provides you the umbrella. Now, come out of the rain and shelter with us. And jointly, we can rebuild our society.



Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire

NIDO-America