My Encounter With the Vice President of Nigeria: The Day I Felt the Diaspora Was Being Heard

Engr. Stella Ifeoma Okengwu

Sometimes you meet a political office. Sometimes you meet the human being occupying it. My encounter with Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York gave me an opportunity to experience both.

I did not leave that encounter thinking merely about his title.

I left thinking about his humility, his extraordinary energy, and most importantly the way he listened when our conversation moved from investment statistics to the real human consequences of what happens when members of the Nigerian diaspora bring their dreams and capital home and encounter roadblocks.

Let me make something clear from the outset.

I am not writing this because of political sentiment, partisan considerations or because I believe public officials should be praised merely for occupying office.

I am writing about what I personally experienced.

And what I experienced surprised me.

WHEN A LEADER LISTENS

One of the easiest things for a powerful person to do is to hear you.

Listening is different.

When I met Vice President Shettima, I encountered someone who was remarkably approachable despite the enormous demands surrounding his office during UNGA81.

Our discussion covered Foreign Direct Investment, diaspora participation in Nigeria’s development, the enormous economic potential of Nigerians living abroad and the need to move diaspora engagement beyond remittances.

But then our conversation became personal.

I spoke about our own struggle as Nigerian-Americans who believed in the promise of investing back home.

Like many Nigerians abroad, we did not simply want to criticize Nigeria from a distance. We wanted to participate in building it.

We brought investment opportunities home. We committed resources. We took risks. We believed that our success abroad could be connected to development and opportunities in the country of our heritage.

And then we encountered roadblocks.

I explained to the Vice President what that experience can mean to an investor particularly a diaspora investor who comes home believing that answering Nigeria’s call should be something celebrated and protected.

He listened.

Not casually.

Not impatiently.

Not as though he were waiting for the conversation to end so that he could move to the next engagement.

He listened with what I experienced as genuine compassion.

That moment stayed with me.

Leadership is not demonstrated only by the ability to speak to millions of people.

Sometimes leadership reveals itself in the willingness to listen carefully to one person.

THE DIASPORA IS MORE THAN REMITTANCES

Our conversation reinforced something I have believed for years: Nigeria must begin to look at its diaspora differently.

We are not merely people who send money home.

We are investors.

We are engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, academics, technology professionals, lawyers and business leaders.

We have access to global capital, international markets, professional networks, technology and expertise.

Most importantly, many of us still possess an emotional connection to Nigeria that no conventional foreign investor can replicate.

But patriotism cannot replace investment protection.

If a Nigerian-American brings capital home, builds a legitimate enterprise, creates employment and introduces foreign investment, that person should be able to trust the institutions responsible for protecting lawful investment.

When diaspora investors encounter serious institutional obstacles, the consequences extend beyond one investor or one project.

Stories travel.

Investor confidence travels with them.

And when confidence disappears, capital can disappear too.

That is why I appreciated the seriousness with which the Vice President listened to my experience.

WHAT I OBSERVED ABOUT HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD THE SOUTH-EAST

As an Easterner, another part of our interaction particularly caught my attention.

I was struck by the Vice President’s disposition toward the South-East and by what I personally perceived as genuine interest in the economic possibilities of the region.

That personal impression should, of course, be separated from the question of government performance. Nigerians have every right to judge any administration by measurable results.

There are nevertheless concrete developments that deserve to be part of the discussion.

Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, the legislation establishing the South East Development Commission was signed into law, creating an institution specifically intended to address development and infrastructure challenges in the region.

The administration has also moved toward a longer-term economic framework for the South-East, including the South-East Vision 2050 initiative and an investment vehicle intended to help mobilise private, institutional and diaspora capital.

These initiatives matter.

But their ultimate significance will depend on implementation.

The people of the South-East should be able to measure progress through infrastructure, investment, jobs, economic opportunities and improved confidence in institutions.

THE TINUBU–SHETTIMA INVESTMENT QUESTION

My conversation with Vice President Shettima also made me reflect more broadly on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration and its stated ambition to attract investment into Nigeria.

The President and Vice President have repeatedly presented Nigeria as a country seeking domestic and international capital.

That ambition cannot succeed through speeches alone.

Foreign Direct Investment has choices.

Capital can go to Lagos or London, Abuja or Dubai, Enugu or Atlanta, depending on where investors believe their capital will be productive and protected.

Therefore, one of the most important responsibilities of the Tinubu administration is not merely attracting investors.

It is protecting investor confidence after the investment arrives.

That distinction is crucial.

The strongest advertisement Nigeria can give the international investment community is not another conference brochure.

It is the testimony of an investor who can say:

“I invested in Nigeria. The institutions worked. My rights were respected. My investment was protected. I would invest again.”

Imagine thousands of Nigerians in the diaspora being able to make that statement.

That would be more powerful than any investment roadshow.

AND THEN I DISCOVERED THAT THE VICE PRESIDENT DOESN’T SEEM TO WALK

There was also a lighter side to my encounter.

I watched Vice President Shettima moving between engagements during an extraordinarily busy UNGA schedule, and something became almost impossible not to notice.

This man does not seem to walk to meetings he practically runs!

I found it amusing, but I also found it revealing.

There was an unmistakable urgency about the way he moved from one responsibility to another.

Of course, Nigerians will ultimately judge political leadership not by how quickly an official moves between meetings, but by how quickly government translates commitments into results.

Still, the energy was remarkable.

And it added another dimension to the man I encountered beyond the television screen and political headlines.

PRAISE MUST NEVER CANCEL ACCOUNTABILITY

There is something else I believe strongly.

Nigeria’s political conversation should mature beyond the idea that acknowledging something positive about a public official automatically makes someone a political supporter or that criticizing a government decision automatically makes someone an enemy of government.

I can say that Vice President Shettima treated me with humility and listened compassionately to my concerns while still believing that government must be held accountable for results.

Both things can be true.

I can acknowledge steps taken by President Tinubu’s administration toward South-East development while still insisting that implementation must be measurable.

Both things can be true.

And I can appreciate the Vice President’s willingness to hear the concerns of a diaspora investor while continuing to advocate strongly for the protection of Nigerian and foreign investors.

That is not contradiction.

That is citizenship.

MY ENCOUNTER CHANGED SOMETHING

I went into that meeting carrying more than a business conversation.

I carried the frustration of an American-Nigerian investor who had answered the call to bring opportunities home and encountered obstacles.

I carried the concerns of diaspora investors who constantly ask themselves whether investing in Nigeria is worth the institutional uncertainty they may face.

And I carried the hope that someone at the highest level of government would understand that behind every investment figure are human beings, families, employees and dreams.

The Vice President listened.

And sometimes, before a problem can be solved, someone with the authority to make a difference must first be willing to listen.

That is why the encounter mattered to me.

MY MESSAGE AFTER UNGA81

I came away from my encounter with Vice President Kashim Shettima with a different perspective.

I saw humility.

I witnessed extraordinary energy.

I experienced attentiveness.

And when I spoke about our struggle and the challenges associated with bringing investment opportunities back to Nigeria, I encountered what I perceived as genuine compassion.

But my greatest hope is that encounters such as mine become more than memorable conversations.

Let compassion become policy.

Let listening become action.

Let invitations to the diaspora be accompanied by institutional protection.

Let Foreign Direct Investment be welcomed not only at the airport or conference hall, but protected when it reaches Nigerian soil.

President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima have an opportunity to deepen that confidence and demonstrate that Nigerians abroad can participate meaningfully in rebuilding the country without fearing that answering the call to invest at home will become a punishment for believing in Nigeria.

And for the South-East, as with every other part of our country, government initiatives should ultimately be measured by what ordinary people can see, experience and benefit from.

Nigeria does not lack talent.

Nigeria does not lack investors.

And Nigeria certainly does not lack Nigerians abroad who desperately want their homeland to succeed.

What we need is a bridge of trust between government, institutions, citizens and investors.

At UNGA81, I had a conversation that made me believe that bridge is at least possible.

Now, the challenge is to build it.

*Engr. Stella Ifeoma Okengwu is an 

Nigerian-American Engineer, Entrepreneur and Diaspora Investor

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