Six months on, 76 embassies, 109 foreign missions await new envoys

• No one manages Nigeria’s diplomatic image abroad, says Emewu
• Oseni, Otubanjo, Soremekun: ‘We’re losing nothing’

About six months after President Bola Tinubu recalled all career and non-career ambassadors in diplomatic missions worldwide, their offices in embassies and consulates have remained vacant.

The envoys, which included 41 non-career ambassadors and 42 career ambassadors appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2020, were on September 2, 2023, directed to return to the country on or before October 31.

Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, had explained that the president’s directive followed his careful study of the present state of affairs at Nigerian Consulate Offices and Embassies worldwide, and in line with his “renewed hope agenda”.

But six months on, the state of affairs has remained the same as the country’s foreign policy programmes allegedly left unpromoted.

Nigeria has 109 missions, 76 embassies, 22 high commissions and 11 consulates globally.

Perhaps aiming to nudge the President to action, unknown interests are already circulating on social media, a purported list of candidates nominated by President Bola Tinubu for ambassadorial jobs, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said is fake.

The argument is that considering the poor diplomatic image of the country globally and the need to improve Nigeria’s standing and dignity among the comity of nations, the delay is unwarranted.

The implication is that there is no appointed envoy (other than the permanent secretary or Head of Mission) with a leading voice to promote the nation’s foreign policy objectives, protect the national interest in foreign lands as well as pursue international cooperation.

Although our foreign policy is Afrocentric, it also intends to promote foreign cooperation for the consolidation of universal peace and mutual respect among all nations.

Speaking on the implication of the vacant positions, Publisher, Africa China Economy Magazine, Ikenna Emewu, said it infers that Nigeria does not relate with the countries of the world for the interest of the nation, but that of a government in power.

According to him, with such a vacuum, nothing about Nigeria’s diplomacy is in full effect.

“It’s a limbo and retardation era. That is part of the reasons nobody at the foreign missions takes care of Nigerian citizens when in need of their service per diplomatic intervention,” he pointed out.

He attributed this to the political system Nigeria operates, where every government that comes in flushes out an entire diplomatic sector to put their party people there, not to serve Nigeria but to settle those that played roles in bringing them to power.

He said: “In 2016, Nigeria didn’t have a substantive ambassador in China the entire year. It was a chargé d’affaires ad interim for the period.

“I noticed during some international conferences that hosted the diplomatic community that sometimes, the chargé d’affaires of Nigeria were not invited. In very clear instances, in July and November of that year, the Nigerian mission was not represented in the tours of the industrial schemes of Suzhou Industrial Region and Fujian Province.

“The reason is that the government of such a country doesn’t know about the existence of such an officer since he or she wasn’t given any Letter of Credence to the host government.”

He added that the effects of the vacancy are numerous as nobody manages the diplomatic image of Nigeria or its citizens in other countries.

But Associate Professor of Political Science, Lead City University, Dr Tunde Oseni, believes that diplomacy is not reduced to the appointment of an ambassador even though they are the political representatives of one country in another.

He explained that the system could be compared to that of a ministry in a country where there is a permanent secretary, but no minister and operations are not affected.

Stressing the importance of having ambassadors as soon as possible across missions abroad, he however, stated that the president has the power to appoint them when he chooses to, as the constitution states that for such nominees to be cleared and deployed to missions abroad, they must be approved by the Senate.

He suggested that the Senate and House of Representative Committee on Foreign Affairs should collaborate and make a representation to the president, stating the urgency of the appointments.

“The job of an ambassador cannot be left in a vacuum because they make a country’s presence felt, brief the president directly, politically and diplomatically about the stand of another country about Nigeria,” he added.

Research Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Femi Otubanjo, argued that the roles of ambassadors, who are considered political heads of embassies, are still being performed, adding that the digital age of instant communication helps make bi or multilateral relations easier.

He explained that Ambassadors are useful in terms of political representation, but in terms of the essential aspect of diplomacy or consular role, technocrats handle them.

“You have a permanent secretary, Head of Missions, who does the routine or technical work. The ambassador is likely flying the flag. They may not be dispensable but it’s not necessary to have one, though they have their role in terms of access to the highest level of government in their countries of representation.

“Countries that want to do business with Nigeria do not necessarily have to go through the embassy. They can communicate directly with the foreign affairs ministry.

“This implies that diplomacy has been taken over by the technology of communication. Heads of State can now talk to each other by just picking up their phones,” he said.

Otubanjo, however, suggested that the measure of the impact of this decision on Nigeria’s global image cannot be ascertained because it deals with individual countries, adding that an ambassador can make or mar the images of his country depending on his capacity, competence, and behaviour.

Professor of Political Science, Lagos State University, Kayode Soremekun, reckoned that there are no implications to the absence of ambassadors, reiterating that it is a political role, and the technocrats can perform all necessary functions, as the embassies have not been closed but are fully operational.

He, however, noted that in some high-level engagements, the weight of the political head is usually needed to facilitate operations.

Stating that Nigeria already has a negative image of overconsumption, underproduction, budget padding and other vices, he said there is little or no impact of having no ambassadors in the nation’s global perception.