As someone who has watched Nigerian public officials for years I must speak plainly. Abike Dabiri Erewa the head of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission is not just rude on social media. She shows a clear pattern of ethnic bias that hurts ordinary Nigerians especially those from the South East and damages our countrys name around the world. Her office should help all citizens abroad yet she often acts like a tribal gatekeeper who protects some and ignores or targets others. This is not leadership. It is bigotry dressed up as public service.
Her vulgar online meltdowns keep getting worse. In April 2026 she mocked Peter Obi millions of supporters both home and in the dispoara with words like obingo and obidiot complete with laughing emojis. She called critics professional hackers warped minds didinrin dodoyo and mugu. Years earlier in June 2024 she attacked journalist Samuel Ogundipe calling him useless miserable and pathetic. A senior official who represents Nigeria globally should never speak this way. These crude rants make us look small and unprofessional in the eyes of the world.
The real danger goes beyond bad language. Dabiri Erewa has shown repeated ethnic bias against Igbos. In September 2025 she shared a post that described Igbos as monkeys animals and children of gorilla history. She has singled out southeast states when talking about Nigerians on death row in Indonesia claiming twenty out of twenty one came from one area while downplaying other cases. During the Sudan crisis groups accused her of leaving Igbo people off rescue vehicles. These actions paint a picture of someone who pushes tribal division instead of unity.
Take the Emma Ihejirika case . This Nigerian was freed from death row in Indonesia after a wrongful drug conviction based on mistaken identity. Dabiri Erewa announced the good news and praised the lawyer who helped but she left out the key detail about the mistake. Some Nigerians believed she did this on purpose to fit her narrative against Igbos. Omissions like this feed suspicion and show she cannot be trusted to handle cases fairly for every group.
Her handling of recent hate speech threats proves the point even more. A Nigerian woman in Canada named Amaka Patience Sunnberger made a viral audio threatening to poison people from Yoruba and Benin backgrounds. Dabiri Erewa moved fast. She shared Amakas photo on social media highlighted the threats and pushed Canadian authorities to act. That quick response looked good until you see what she left out.
The full story started with Kingsley Ugiagbe a Benin man based in Austria. In a viral audio he called for poisoning Igbo children wherever they are found in Nigeria or abroad and used strong language to incite violence. The Edo community in Austria even suspended him for it. Yet Dabiri Erewa stayed mostly silent on Kingsley. She focused her petition and public statements only on Amaka while cutting out the part where Kingsley started the cycle of hate. Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria HURIWA slammed this double standard. They demanded the same pressure on Kingsley that was put on Amaka and called out the Federal Government for slow action on threats against Igbos. Activists like Aisha Yesufu and Chief Malcolm Emokiniovo Omirhobo joined in questioning why threats against one group get full attention while calls to kill Igbo children get ignored.
Peter Obi spoke clearly on the matter. He condemned both Kingsleys threats to poison and unalive Igbo children and Amakas retaliatory words. He urged all Nigerians to drop tribal hate and focus on real problems like insecurity and bad leadership. Atiku Abubakar added his voice too. But while these leaders called for unity Dabiri Erewa remained quiet on the anti Igbo side. This selective silence from the person whose job is to protect every Nigerian in the diaspora is shameful.
Even the Senate has had enough. In October 2024 lawmakers moved to issue an arrest warrant for Dabiri Erewa after she repeatedly refused to appear before the Committee on Ethics Privileges and Public Petitions. Senator Neda Imasuen the committee chairman expressed frustration over her absenteeism and the many petitions against her for bias in handling ethnic issues. Senate President Godswill Akpabio backed the move reminding everyone that the constitution gives them power under Section 89 to compel attendance. Her failure to show up and answer questions about these bias claims only makes things look worse.
She has also embarrassed the country with simple mistakes. Nidcom under her claimed the UK approved four hundred thirty thousand visas for Nigerians. The UK High Commission quickly corrected that saying the real number was two hundred fifty five thousand visas of all types. They told false claims must stop. Dabiri Erewa later admitted the error but the wrong press release stayed online for days. Small slips like this from a top official add up and make Nigerians look unreliable abroad.
Her own right of reply has made the ethnic hatred even clearer. When Ambassador Lilian Onoh a respected Igbo diplomat gave a firsthand account of Dabiri Erewa breaking protocol at a 2018 event with Namibias President Hage Geingob in Abuja the NIDCOM boss denied ever meeting Onoh and called the story an outright lie. Onoh provided clear proof including news reports photos and videos from the Buhari Geingob meeting. According to Onoh Dabiri Erewa had stood next to her and openly said Igbo people commit all the crimes abroad they are the criminals and they are Nigerias problem overseas. She even apologized to Onoh saying they were her people. Instead of addressing these serious claims Dabiri Erewa deflected to an old defamation case involving Geoffrey Onyeama and labeled Onohs account a vendetta. This denial and diversion in the face of evidence only confirms the deep seated bias. Onoh and others note that Dabiri Erewa has a long record of vile utterances against Igbos in diplomatic circles with no other topic seeming to occupy her mind. Her response did not deny the hatred it simply tried to hide it and failed.
The pattern is too clear to ignore. She rushes to act when threats target certain groups but drags her feet or stays silent when Igbos are the victims. She highlights crimes linked to one ethnic group while glossing over others. She omits facts that do not fit her story. This is not neutral public service. It is ethnic bigotry that fuels division at home and makes life harder for Nigerians facing profiling overseas.
Nigerians in the diaspora already battle extra suspicion in many countries. When their own government official feeds negative stereotypes or treats groups unequally it worsens the problem. The role of Nidcom chairman demands fairness professionalism and restraint. Dabiri Erewa has shown the opposite time after time.
Senate pressure mounting public outrage and clear examples of selective justice should force real change. If she cannot treat every Nigerian equally regardless of tribe she has no business heading an agency meant to serve all. We deserve leaders who unite us not tear us apart with bias and vulgar rants like Dabiri Erewa. The damage to our global image is real and the time for excuses is over. Nigerians at home and abroad are watching and many are tired of this kind of leadership.
Nkiruka Nistoran is online NN News Media publisher
