Muhammadu Buhari, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria |
This is, indeed, in line
with current economic realities as the four month-old administration works out
ways to cut the cost of governance towards maintaining standards and quality.
However, in doing all these, the government must be guided more by the fact of
the country’s history and its proposed destination in the next 20 or 30 years.
A word of caution is
equally appropriate: the government has to make haste slowly so as to avoid the
country retreating into itself just when its presence should actually be felt
on the world stage. Missions in some places may be a waste of resources but
where they are effective, they can be used as means of projecting power and
maintaining direct contact with needed friendly nations.
In the immediate past,
stories of serious neglect, underfunding and idle officials have certainly been
the lot of many missions in the Nigerian foreign service. Therefore, the
president could not have been far from reality when he stated without
pretensions that there was no point operating missions all over the world with
dilapidated facilities and demoralised staff.“ Let’s keep only what we can
manage. We can’t afford much for now. There’s no point in pretending.”
If the painted picture is
true, it is unimaginable what statement past leaders were making by keeping
unmanageable diplomatic missions that have become the butt of jokes and an
embarrassment to the country and her diplomats.
Other challenges before the
Foreign Affairs Ministry listed by its permanent secretary after briefing
President Buhari included the absence of a Foreign Service Commission, policy
inconsistency and training deficiency, among others. But, will streamlining
foreign missions have any negative impact on operations? The ministry does not
think so. Again, the proposed review has no timeline. This is, happily,
suggestive of an exercise to be done carefully, devoid of the usual official
quick fire approach to sensitive national issues which are later jettisoned
when reason prevails.
Underscoring the need for a
comprehensive review of the country’s foreign policy, the permanent secretary
stated that the last comprehensive review or report was in 1986, almost three
decades ago. This is scandalous in a dynamic diplomatic environment. It is,
however, refreshing to learn from the ministry that the fundamentals of our
foreign policy as defined by the objective principle are not only sound but
also relevant. What changes is the nuance that governments and regimes bring
from time to time.
Nigeria, of course, has
never been short of appellations for its foreign policies at every point in
time, but a conscientious pursuit of the ideas is another story. At least five
different themes as developed by different regimes or governments in recent
times have been identified. Starting with the 1975 ‘Africa has come of age’;
Concentric Circle Concept (of the regime of Gen. Buhari – 1983-85), Gen.
Ibrahim Babangida’s twin ideas of Concert of Medium Powers and Economic
Diplomacy from 1985 until his stepping aside in 1993, Citizen Diplomacy of the
late Umaru Yar’Adua and Jonathan Goodluck’s Transformation Agenda, the
high-sounding tags were always there but only in a few cases were they given
clarity in definition and diligence in pursuit.
Without jettisoning the
functional aspects of these earlier policies, the current administration must
ideally pursue its own priority in security, the economy and anti-graft fight
if it would not turn out to be another empty sloganeer in foreign policy.
Envoys must be well grounded to explain the new vision to the world for effect.
The global community must be made to understand Nigeria with a view to
acknowledging her as the continental leader that it should be in Africa.
Aiming for that leadership
status would mean consideration for professionals being posted to spheres of influence
of the country, sending the best and experienced ambassadors to contiguous
states whose security and economy are tied to Nigeria’s. Nigeria, of course,
needs to keep friends all over the globe as a means of projecting power. If she
withdraws from a particular location as a result of mission pruning, the
government must still be able to maintain presence and influence in that
country.
Doing these are necessary
so the world would see Nigeria as an influential powerhouse. But it demands the
cultivation and delivery of a clear message with words and deeds. Nigeria must
expedite the development of its education system, infrastructure and health
care system to project the image of a strong country.
The nation’s population,
especially of the young is huge and, if well educated in a radically changed
system with original Nigeria-Centric Syllabus, that have development as well as
the people’s cultures as their focus will translate to enormous power.
The nation’s foreign policy
must indeed be rooted in the recognition that Nigeria’s is crucial to the
survival of Africa politically and economically. (guardian)
No comments:
Post a Comment