Nigerians in the diaspora have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to review Nigeria’s quota system to make the country more progressive and united.

Under the aegis of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Worldwide (NIDOWW), they identified equal opportunities for all and fairness in governance as necessary ingredients needed for the country’s development.

“Therefore, the need for a review of the quota system to be more functional, not just to allow for effective implementation of the Federal Character, also give room for equal opportunity and fairness,” said NIDOWW.

The coordinating chair of NIDOWW, Bashir Obasekola, spoke on behalf of the organisation in a teleconference interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

NIDOWW is an umbrella body of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisations (NIDOs) in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Africa.

It aims to harness and galvanise Nigerian citizens’ professional and financial resources across continents for the development of the fatherland.

Mr Obasekola, who is the chairman of NIDO Europe, said that Nigeria should rank favourably among the comity of developed countries with its level of growth.

He decried the increasing rate at which politicians defected from one political party to another but praised Mr Buhari’s regime for facilitating the ongoing constitutional review and described it as timely.

The NIDO Europe chairman further noted that the exercise would create room for Nigerians at home and abroad to make input and produce an acceptable document that would guide citizens on moving the country forward progressively.

“Through the constitutional review, we can develop ourselves, especially in the areas of overhauling the nation’s quota system, which resulted in Federal Character Commission.

“The Federal Character Act implies that appointment of public officials must be based on equal representation of people cutting across regions of the country,” he added.