Nigeria’s foreign policy is currently at risk as President Bola Tinubu’s inaction on ambassadors has sparked concerns in the polity.
Tinubu recalled Nigerian envoys on September 2, 2023. Since then, Nigeria’s 109 diplomatic missions, comprising 76 embassies, 22 high commissions and one consulate have been without full diplomatic representation in the rank of ambassadors.
A retired diplomat, Ambassador Suleiman Dahiru, while speaking to Daily Trust, said the president ought to have appointed new ambassadors almost immediately after he recalled the former ones.
He said, “In fact, before recalling ambassadors, you would have recommended those who will take over from them and they are the ones to ask for agreement on behalf of those new ambassadors coming but this has not happened.
There are career officers who have been overdue for ambassadorial appointments but they have not been appointed and time is running out against them.
“By the time they make the appointments, you will find out that some of these diplomats, who could have been appointed ambassadors can no longer be appointed because they have few months to retire. The career officers are now the ones suffering.”
Another former diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said the delay in appointing ambassadors could affect the relationship between Nigeria and some countries as they might not be open to dealing with lower cadre officers.
His words: “A chargé d’affaire may not be allowed to have meetings with a foreign minister of the host country because his position is just equivalent to that of a director. So, he may have limitations in handling serious issues, which require higher authority from his host country.”
A former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Joe Keshi, noted that considering how long the nomination and the screening of ambassadors in Nigeria as well as their clearance by designated host countries usually take, it may not be easy to have them in place soon.
He stated: “You don’t just call somebody and say, ‘you go to America’. When you agree on the person you want to send, you have to send his papers and every other thing to the country and until they accept, you don’t announce…This could take six months or even a year in some cases.’’