Six months later, 76 embassies and 109 foreign missions are waiting for new envoys.Headline News

• No one can manage Nigeria's diplomatic image abroad, Emewu says.
• Oseni, Otubanjo, Solemekun: “We have not lost anything”

Almost six months after President Bola Tinubu recalled all career and non-career ambassadors from diplomatic missions around the world, ambassadors' offices at embassies and consulates remain vacant.

The envoys include 41 non-career ambassadors and 42 career ambassadors who were appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2020 and ordered to return to the country by October 31, 2023 on September 2, 2023. instructed.

Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuli Ngerale, said the President's directive was the result of careful study of the current situation in Nigeria's consulates and embassies around the world and was in line with the President's Agenda of New Hope. It was explained that it was a thing.

However, six months later, the situation has not changed, with the country's foreign policy plans reportedly going unaddressed.

Nigeria has 109 missions, 76 embassies, 22 high commissions and 11 consulates around the world.

An unknown stakeholder is already circulating on social media purporting to be a list of candidates nominated by President Bola Tinubu for the post of ambassador, perhaps aiming to urge the president to take action, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that this is a fake. It is said that it is.

The argument is that the delay is unwarranted given Nigeria's poor global diplomatic image and the need to improve its status and dignity among nations.

This means that there is no appointed envoy (other than a permanent secretary or head of legation) with a leading voice to advance a nation's foreign policy objectives, protect foreign interests, and pursue international cooperation. That's what it means.

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

Mr. Ikenna Emewu, publisher of Africa China Business Magazine, said the vacancy meant that Nigeria was not interacting with countries around the world for the national benefit, but rather with the governments in power. He said he suspects that there will be.

According to him, nothing in Nigeria's diplomacy is fully functioning in such a vacuum.

“This is a time of stalemate and delay. That is part of the reason why no one at the diplomatic missions abroad looks after the Nigerian people when diplomatic intervention calls for their services,” he noted. .

He blamed this on the political system in which Nigeria operates, saying that every time a government comes to power, the entire diplomatic branch is removed en masse and party members are put in place to bring Nigeria into power rather than to serve Nigeria. He said this was to reconcile the people he had played a role in guiding.

He said, “In 2016, Nigeria did not have a substantive ambassador in China for the entire year. It was the Chargé d'Affaires for that period.

“We have noticed that during some international conferences hosting the diplomatic community, Nigeria’s Chargé d’Affaires are sometimes not invited.A very clear example is that in July and November of that year, the Nigerian Chargé d’Affaires was not invited. The delegation did not participate in the inspection of the Suzhou Industrial Park and industrial plans in Fujian Province.

“The reason is that the government of such a country does not know of the existence of such an official, because the official is not given credentials to the host government.”

He added that the impact of the vacancy is significant as there is no one in charge of the diplomatic image of Nigeria and Nigerians in other countries.

However, Dr. Tunde Oseni, Associate Professor of Political Science at Lead City University, believes that diplomacy cannot be reduced to the appointment of an ambassador, even if the ambassador is a political representative of another country.

He explained that the system could be comparable to the country's system of ministries, where there is a permanent secretary, but there is no minister and operations will not be affected.

However, he stressed the importance of having ambassadors across foreign missions as soon as possible, and said that the Constitution requires that such candidates be authorized and sent to foreign missions, and that the president has the power to appoint ambassadors if he so chooses. Senate approval is required.

He suggested that the Senate and House Foreign Affairs committees work together to state and express to the president the urgency of the appointment.

“The job of an ambassador is to make a country's presence felt and to explain directly, politically and diplomatically to the president about other countries' positions regarding Nigeria, so the job cannot be left blank.” added.

Mr. Femi Otubanjo, Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), maintains that the role of the ambassador, who is considered to be the political head of the embassy, ​​is still being played, adding that in the digital age, the role of the ambassador is still being fulfilled. He added that communication helps. Facilitate bilateral or multilateral relations.

He explained that while ambassadors are useful in terms of political representation, the essential aspects of diplomatic and consular roles are left to technocrats.

“There is a permanent secretary, the Director of Missions, who is in charge of day-to-day operations and technical affairs. Perhaps ambassadors will carry the flag. It has a role, but it may not be essential, but it doesn't need to have one.

“Countries that wish to do business with Nigeria do not necessarily have to go through an embassy; they can communicate directly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“This means that diplomacy has been taken over by communication technology. Heads of state can now just pick up the phone and talk to each other,” he said.

However, Otubanjo suggested that the extent of the impact of this decision on Nigeria's global image could not be ascertained as it was targeted at individual countries, adding that ambassadors would depend on their capacity, capacity and actions to It added that it could improve or damage the image.

Kayode Solemekun, a professor of political science at Lagos State University, believes that the ambassador's absence will have no effect, adding that although the embassy has not been closed, the ambassador has no political role to play as the embassy is not closed. and reiterated that technocrats can perform all necessary functions. Fully operational.

However, he noted that some high-level engagements typically require the weight of top politics to facilitate operations.

He said the ambassador's absence would have little or no impact on the country's global perception, noting that Nigeria already has a negative image of overconsumption, underproduction, budget inflating and other vices.

Source: guardian.ng