The ongoing national protest in Nigeria is
reverberating in the United States among the Nigerian community as
US-based Nigerians continue to organise many protest rallies from New
York to Washington DC, Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta in the last
four days, Empowered Newswire reports.
On Wednesday, American participants during the Occupy
Wall Street protest joined Nigerians in New York to march on the
Nigerian House.
To distinguish themselves, some of the Nigerians had
to wear traditional Nigerian attires as many of the protesters from the
Occupy Wall Street were white Americans who came out to support the
protests of the US-based Nigerians.
In New York, where Nigerians under the banner of the
Nigerian Democratic Liberty Forum, started marching on Monday, in front
of the Nigeria House, the American protest movement OCCUPY Wall Street
joined the Nigerian protesters on Wednesday to march on the Nigerian
House.
According to one of the leaders of the New York
protests, Mr Bukola Oreofe, executive director of the NDLF, some
Nigerian Consulate officials at the Nigeria House offered to invite some
of the protesters to talk with senior diplomats both on Tuesday and
Wednesday, including the Foreign Affairs, Minister Olugbenga Ashiru, who
was in town.
However, the offer was turned down according to
Oreofe who said the demands of the protesters were the same with those
of the Nigerians at home which had been tabled before the government.
However the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof. Ade
Adefuye, confirmed on Thursday that many groups representing Nigerian
associations in the US, including Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation,
NIDO, had agreed to dialogue with the Federal Government’s delegation in
Chicago recently.
Adefuye said he would lead the delegation, hoping to
create better understanding between Nigerians in the US and the
government on the controversial subsidy issue.
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