For the second time: MICHAEL RE-ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF NIGERIANS COMMUNITY ORGANISATION IN SENEGAL

For the second time: MICHAEL RE-ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF NIGERIANS COMMUNITY ORGANISATION IN SENEGAL 

Nigerians living in Senegal have re-elected Mr. Michael Onkwe Ogugua as the President of their association for the second time. Mr. Michael, who assumed the presidency in 2023, has brought some changes in the lives of Nigerians living in Senegal. As he told our correspondent in a telephone interview, said that during his stay in the country, he noticed that Nigerians were living in isolation and there was no unified organization where they could meet and discuss their status as immigrants.

 "When I won the 2023 presidential election, the first thing I did was to contact the Senegalese security agencies to express our concerns about the way the police often arrest and detain Nigerians without any charges. They enter the homes of our people and take their belongings or frame them for crimes they did not commit in order to harass them. At the organizational level, I led them to the headquarters of the National Security Agency after obtaining the cooperation of the Nigerian Ambassador in the country. This problem no longer exists."

 President Michael continued by saying that after demanding that Nigerians enjoy freedom without any interference, the next thing they did was, “seeing that most of our people were unemployed, we approached companies and industries to create jobs for them and we succeeded in doing so. I can now tell you that it is rare to find an unemployed Nigerian in the country. Also, my ascension to this presidency brings about the Nigerian Cultural Festival which we hold every year, which is a great joy and a way to strengthen the bond between us and show the rest of the world that we have a beautiful culture in Nigeria.

 Apart from this, we are celebrating Nigeria’s independence. We come together to celebrate”. Mr. Michael also said that as the leader of Nigerians living in Senegal, he tried to ensure that wherever Nigerians are living in the country, they formed associations to strengthen their ties and help each other.  "I assure you that there is such organization of Nigerians in the cities and villages where they live. And we are gaining more and more success every day". 

However, President Michael expressed concern over the way some unscrupulous people are deceiving some Nigerians, especially young women under the age of 18, under the pretext of bringing them to the country for employment but end up in prostitution, given that Senegal does not prohibit prostitution. He therefore appealed to Nigerians, especially parents and young people who are being deceived, to be aware of the people they are dealing with and be wary of those who promise to provide them with employment abroad. 

The re-elected President Michael A. Agugua and other leaders of the organization include, Owen Kingsley Deputy President, Jimoh Saheedu Musa General Secretary, Emmanuel Okata Treasurer. Others are, Ibah Joseph Killian Secretary for Finance and Ibrahim Lukuman Deputy Secretary and Mokobia Rhoda Secretary for Welfare and Maidoki Abdullahi Deputy Secretary for Welfare.  Then there are spiritual fathers of the organisation of which including Imam Musa Hassan Katsina and Pastor Aphams mosses Abia.