NTAC Says Nigerian Professionals Strengthening Country’s Soft Power Across 40 Countries
NTAC Says Nigerian Professionals Strengthening Country’s Soft Power Across 40 Countries
NTAC Says Nigerian Professionals Strengthening Country’s Soft Power Across 40 Countries
**By NASSNEWS**
The Director-General of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC), Rt. Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub, has said the deployment of Nigerian professionals to countries across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific has strengthened Nigeria’s soft power and international development cooperation.
Yakub made the assertion on Thursday in Abuja while presenting an account of the achievements of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
He said NTAC, established in 1987, had deployed more than 10,000 Nigerian professionals to over 40 countries across the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions.
According to him, the professionals have served in areas including education, medicine, engineering, law, agriculture, science and technology.
The DG said the Tinubu administration had given renewed attention to the Technical Aid Corps Scheme, with the agency sustaining the deployment of Nigerian professionals while receiving volunteers returning from completed assignments.
He said returning volunteers in 2026 included Nigerians who had served in countries such as Uganda, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
“These are not merely statistics. Behind every deployment is a Nigerian professional representing our country, building relationships and leaving a footprint of competence, discipline and service,” Yakub said.
He said NTAC had also placed emphasis on the welfare of volunteers, including allowances, deployment arrangements, monitoring, debriefing and reintegration.
“Our policy is straightforward: if Nigeria sends a professional abroad in the service of the nation, that Nigerian must be treated with dignity,” he said.
Yakub cited the activities of Nigerian volunteers in The Gambia as an example of the contributions being made by Nigerian professionals abroad.
He said Nigerian TAC volunteers had contributed to education administration and the legal system in the country, including serving in positions such as university vice chancellors, deputy vice chancellors, school administrators, judges and legislative drafting professionals.
The DG also highlighted what he described as the diplomatic value of the scheme, noting that technical assistance could create relationships between Nigerians and citizens of host countries.
“Diplomacy is a Nigerian doctor attending to a patient in another African country,” he said, citing the example of a Nigerian nurse in Guinea-Bissau who, according to him, delivered a baby following a complicated pregnancy and inspired the child’s name, Nkiruka.
He said diplomacy could also be represented by a Nigerian lecturer teaching in a foreign university, an engineer helping to address a development challenge, a lawyer contributing to legal institutions or an agricultural expert transferring knowledge to farmers.
“Every one of these professionals is, in a very real sense, an ambassador of Nigeria,” Yakub said.
He urged volunteers to remain conscious of the fact that their conduct abroad reflects on Nigeria’s image.
The DG further disclosed that NTAC was strengthening Nigeria’s South-South cooperation agenda through partnerships with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
He said the agency was repositioning technical assistance as a platform for mutual cooperation rather than a one-way relationship.
Yakub also listed institutional reforms at NTAC, including the remodelling and renovation of offices, acquisition of operational vehicles and efforts to strengthen internal processes.
He said the agency had also commenced capacity-building initiatives involving relevant officers and stakeholders, including training programmes involving Foreign Service Officers and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On accountability, Yakub said the agency had strengthened the process of debriefing returning volunteers to document their experiences, challenges and knowledge acquired abroad.
“Their international exposure should become part of Nigeria’s national human-capital development,” he said.
He also linked NTAC’s activities to the Sustainable Development Goals, saying the deployment of Nigerian professionals had contributed to Nigeria’s changing role in international development cooperation.
According to Yakub, Nigeria has been recognised by the Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) framework as not only a recipient but also a contributor to the SDGs, and was made a member of the TOSSD Steering Committee last year.
The DG said the agency’s ambition was to make NTAC a globally recognised platform for technical cooperation, professional exchange, skilled labour mobility and Nigeria’s soft-power diplomacy.
“We want more countries to request Nigerian expertise. We want more Nigerian professionals to have opportunities to serve internationally. We want returning volunteers to become multipliers of knowledge at home,” he said.
Yakub also called on the Nigerian media to give greater visibility to the contributions of Nigerian professionals abroad.
“NTAC needs you,” he told journalists, urging them to tell stories about Nigerian doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers, agricultural experts, scientists and other professionals working outside the country.
He said such stories represented “the human faces of Nigeria’s foreign policy” and could help Nigerians better understand the role of technical assistance in international diplomacy.
The DG described the overall objective of the scheme as deploying Nigerian expertise in the service of humanity while strengthening relationships between Nigeria and partner countries.
