The Federal Government (FG) is worried over the indebtedness of the country’s foreign missions saying that it has resulted in a lowering of Nigeria’s prestige in the comity of nations. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha expressed this concern while inaugurating the Presidential Committed on the Review of the Number and Strategy for Resourcing Nigeria’s Diplomatic Missions. New Telegraph commends the FG over its concern with regard to the indebtedness of the country’s foreign missions. No serious country would overlook such an inglorious image earned by her diplomatic missions and carry on as if all had been well when actually her house is up in flames. We hope that this consciousness, though belated, would help the FG to make at least an impression on Nigerians in the field of international relations through low-budget spending but more effective and efficient foreign missions. But unfortunately, this is more like loudly mourning a dead person when adequate proactive medical interventions ought to have been made to save him. In his almost eight years in office, President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed some individuals as non-career Ambassadors and High Commissioners. Acknowledged, it may be defensible to appoint some noncareer Ambassadors and High Commissioners, but it is wrong to appoint to such positions, persons who are unlikely to help Nigeria reap some international relations capital. It is with a heavy heart that we state unequivocally that some of the non-career Ambassadors and High Commissioners appointed by Mr. President fall into this referred classification. Their activities in private, official, business and professional settings have been laced with controversies and scandals. Since it is usually difficult for a canewielding and brutal masquerade to transform overnight into an enticing and dancing one, such controversial and unproductive persons seem to have retained their negative attributes even in their new exalted positions New Telegraph recalls that some stakeholders repeatedly called the attention of the FG to the huge risks associated with the appointment of such defective characters to such high-profile positions but to no avail. We enjoin the Executive organ of Government to demonstrate improved seriousness with regard to ending the disturbing indebtedness by identifying some square pegs in round holes serving as non-career Ambassadors and High Commissioners. Such individuals should be excused from the different foreign missions. The FG should purge itself of the impression that such sensitive positions are ‘just jobs for the boys’. The expertise of a person should be subjected to profound scrutiny while considering him or her for exalted positions. If it is discovered that a nominee for the position lacks the capacity or expertise to add value to the office he/she is being proposed for, it would be appropriate to withdraw him/her for a more qualified and productive nominee. Through a merit-driven appointment process, fit and proper persons would be identified to be appointed as diplomats to man the different foreign missions. The non-career Ambassadors and High Commissioners would, no doubt, be expected to protect the interests of Nigerians in their host nations by helping them to respect the laws of such countries while earning a living. The quality of the value addition by the diplomats would also be evaluated through their ability to attract foreign investments to Africa’s most populous nation. Foreign investments which go beyond exchange of goods but translate into the establishment of factories and industries would be considered enduring given the creation of employment opportunities. While New Telegraph advocates that a single embassy be made to serve Nigerians in two countries contiguous to each other, the Executive Arm of Government should be made to purge itself of rascality in governance. The present trend whereby President Buhari constantly travels aboard with many aides at huge public expense constitutes a profound but avoidable waste of limited financial resources. The funds frittered away for the allowances and the general comfort of Mr. President and his army of aides would have been deployed into improved funding of critical sectors such as education and health as well as in the strengthening of the foreign missions. New Telegraph urges the National Assembly to use its remaining months to responsibly detach herself from the Executive Branch of Government and subject the latter to productive scrutiny and thorough oversight in order to actualise checks and balances, which is one of the gains of the separation of powers. One way of illustrating this is for a Private Member’s Bill to be passed into law bringing to an end recurring overseas trips by the number one citizen and other members of the Executive Organ of Government to countries where Nigeria has embassies. The nation’s Ambassadors and High Commissioners should, in addition to their other responsibilities, be made to stand in for Mr. President, the Foreign Affairs Minister and other members of the Executive Branch of Government at functions in their host nations. Except on rare occasions, which should not be more than two times in a year, no political office-holder, including the number one citizen, should embark on a foreign trip. The trend whereby some political-office holders have been allowed to metamorphose into tourists at great public expense should be discouraged. Should these measures be complied with religiously, the financial challenges of the nation’s diplomatic missions would be a thing of the past.

•The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha

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