It is unbelievable that a country like Nigeria with most political leaders literarily living abroad in the guise of seeking for and attracting foreign investors, can contemplate and indeed function for almost two years without the appointment and deployment of ambassadors to her foreign missions. This is an aberration which we believe must be urgently addressed for the sake of redeeming her current negative image among the community of nations.
It is unfortunate that not the best of our human resources are saddled with the responsibility of managing the affairs of Nigeria to the extent that most public office holders have remained insensitive to major under currents which stimulate and guide the management of the country at the international arena top of which is functional embassies and consulates thus leading to the treatment of the once giant of Africa like a pariah state.
President Bola Tinubu’s apparent refusal to appoint ambassadors over two years into his four-year tenure paints a picture of a pretender to the throne, a leader whose interest is in running the entire country like a private estate and one who takes delight in dispensing handouts and palliatives to a conquered populace. This is not what the people neither desire nor deserve.
We are deeply worried that Nigerians are currently been confronted with the worst unpleasant travel conditions by hitherto friendly nations whose visa issuance regulations are now everything far from what they deserve without reciprocal reactions from the federal government as usually defined in diplomatic circles.
For instance the United States of America, United Arab Emirates, Canada, among other countries have recently come out with what have been considered unfriendly visa policies without first engaging Nigeria’s foreign missions simply because Nigeria does not have ambassadors that should have naturally been engaged or at the worst of times been briefed ahead of the introduction of such obnoxious policies.
It is on record that Tinubu’s administration hurriedly recalled 109 envoys from 77 embassies, 22 high commissions and 11 consulates in 2023. The career ambassadors – 42 affected by the recall – suffered the most. Today, their careers are in jeopardy as the retirement age in Nigeria is 60. The non-career ambassadors totaling 41 are in the same boat of frustration. But Nigeria as a nation, is suffering the consequences most as high level offshore businesses, political and humanitarian deals cannot be fully negotiated and sealed on account of the lack of the required and properly designated embassy staff.
There is no gain in saying that Nigeria is conspicuously the biggest looser of the lacuna created by the near absence of diplomats at top level talks at international level as the staccato of shuttles of high level government officials abroad will not amount to anything meaningful beyond financial drainage pipes in the face of the absence of ambassadors whose primary function is to provide the niceties required to tidy what otherwise would have been abandoned at the level of rhetorics which translate to nothingness.
For example, the case of Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Gen. Christopher Musa, who recently felt aggrieved that Canada denied him and the military top brass visas to attend a memorial event in that country ought to have been diplomatically sorted out ahead of time had Nigeria had a subsisting ambassador in Canada at the time. Sadly, it was the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who angrily declared then that, “Canada can go to hell,” a reaction considered not only highly undiplomatic but a crude language which consequences are still lingering.
Regrettably, Nigeria’s fortunes continue to nose-dive internationally simply because she has no envoys to represent it abroad. It is a fact that investors depend largely on information and confidence which exude from missions abroad before making strategic decisions. Although we applaud the efforts of Tinubu’s administration to attract investable funds for the country with particular emphasis on Foreign Direct Investments, totalling over $50 billion in FDIs between May 2023 and January 2025, a perceived achievement which was described as major outcome of President Tinubu’s extensive foreign engagements and strategic economic diplomacy, we regret to declare that the bulk of the amount stands as mere expression of interests devoid of concrete commitments as they will require efforts of foot soldiers; in this case, the ambassadors to finalize the deals..
No matter how Tinubu’s international visits and sustained diplomatic outreach may have been carefully planned, it will require the collaborative efforts and interface of Nigeria’s foreign missions for such efforts to yield tangible economic and strategic dividends. Her current image before the international community is, to say the least, not the best as it falls short of the status of a country hitherto tagged the giant of Africa. Ambassadors, who preside over foreign missions, are cultured enough to develop the finesse or expertise to massage the egos of foreign partners while at the same time conducting discreet background checks on the reliability of prospective investors with the view to advising government on issues of best practices.
Consequently, Tinubu must activate this part of governance structure by appointing ambassadors now, an exercise which ought to have been conducted alongside the appointment of key cabinet ministers, heads of agencies and departments. Not even past military regimes operated this long without ambassadors. The bulk of the embarrassments and humiliations that Nigerians are facing by way of visa discriminations and restrictions are direct fallout of embassies without the full complement of staff, key which is an ambassador.
Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu has undertaken over 40 international trips to key countries across Africa, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia which include visits to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brazil, South Africa, and The Vatican, among others.
We declare without fear of any contradiction that the gains of such visits which came at heavy cost to Nigeria ought to have been bigger than the celebrated $14 billion in commitments secured during the G20 Summit in India, $10 billion from ExxonMobil, $8 billion from Indorama, $3 billion each from Jindal Steel and Shell, $1 billion from Coca-Cola, $3.5 billion from Arise, and $9.2 billion from APPL not forgetting the $600 million from Maersk and over $350 million in combined investments from Dutch firms.
While aligning with those who believe that these inflows are not only a reflection of the success of President Tinubu’s economic reforms but also a testament to the effectiveness of Nigeria’s foreign policy posture under his leadership, we insist that the successes of any administration are not measured only in monetary terms but to include the respect, freedom and dignity which citizens command outside their shores. The ease of doing business in Nigeria is a gospel which must be continually preached abroad by our foreign missions as championed by ambassadors. The truth of the matter is that the replacement of the recalled ambassadors is long overdue. Presidency should act now.
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