A former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joe Keshi, has faulted the ambassadorial list sent to the Senate by President Bola Tinubu for confirmation.
Keshi, who spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, questioned the character of some of the nominees, who he claimed should have no business being in the diplomatic service “by any standard”.
“I’m comfortable with some names on the list, but the truth of the matter is that the bulk of the people on the non-career list is a bit disturbing. Are these the kind of people we want to represent Nigeria?
“You have people who, if justice had prevailed and if this country had been run properly, and the rules and the rules of the game are obeyed, actually should be cooling their heels in the walls of the prison and not being sent out as ambassadors.
“You have people who have governed their states. They were absolute failures. They showed no leadership when they led their states, and the governors who took over from them are struggling to repair the damage they’ve done to their states.
“Those are the kind of people being rewarded, either because they have helped you to destroy other political parties, and the rest of it,” he said.
Keshi, however, said he believed there was a conspiracy against a former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke, which led to his removal as the head of the agency.
But the diplomat said that senior career officers in the foreign affairs ministry were bitter about their exclusion from the ambassadorial list.
According to him, Nigeria needs to send its best hands as ambassadors.
“Look, as far back as the 1960s, when the diplomatic service was established, those who established the diplomatic service, particularly the Prime Minister, were very clear in their mind about the kind of diplomatic service they wanted for Nigeria.
“He [the Prime Minister] wanted a very competent foreign service. He wanted an independent foreign service. He wanted officers of the foreign service to be well trained, to be able to compete favourably with their peers all over the world.
“And the first generation of those recruited into the foreign service, and for a long time, met the criteria until the politicians came and started what they are doing today,” he stated.
Keshi, therefore, appealed to President Tinubu to include officials of the ministry in his next list.
“And the second point I made was to appeal to the President. I hear there’s another list to come out; I don’t know if it’s true. I beg the President, for goodness’ sake, for the sake of the officers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, to please ensure that the next list contains no other names but the people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“These officers are demoralised. Look, tomorrow somebody will accuse them of being unpatriotic, but the truth of the matter is that they are disappointed after being prepared,” the former permanent secretary said.
“They’ve gone through training and preparing themselves, and at the heights where they are supposed to be appointed, you’re now saying that they are not qualified to represent the country.
“You have a set that has retired. All these officers, as Nigerians today, are very bitter, and they think that Nigeria has done it to them,” Keshi added.
Tinubu had last Saturday released a list of 32 persons nominated to serve as ambassadors in Nigeria’s foreign missions.
They included a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu; former governors of Enugu and Abia states, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Okezie Ikpeazu; a former minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, and a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri.
The President had earlier sent the names of Oke, Amin Dalhatu, and Colonel Lateef Are (retd.) to the Senate for confirmation.
The lists have attracted mixed reactions from Nigerians.
