An agenda for the foreign affairs minister

Ordinarily, the foreign affairs ministry should be one of the most essential and should rank amongst the top, perhaps only in comparison with the ministry of Defence. In the United States, for instance, – on which we modelled our democracy, the Secretary of State ranks only below the President and the Vice President in importance. The States department is charged with the onerous task of protecting Americans and America’s interest the world over, advancing America’s economic prosperity through trade etc, propagate and gain international understand and possible acceptance of America’s policies, values and way of life, and coordinate the work of diplomats and other government officials who work at home and abroad to advance America’s interests. Besides, the department works with foreign governments, international and multilateral organisations and peoples to promote everything American. It is therefore a central organ of promoting and defending American values and interests the world over.

Sadly, in Nigeria, the importance of the foreign affairs ministry has been whittled down considerably such that it is now considered a low-keyed ministry where those who are not so important in the scheme of things are deployed as compensation. Similarly, foreign policy hardly featured in Nigeria’s presidential campaigns. Pray, how could a nation who treats its main agency or organ of interacting with the world with such levity gain any leverage internationally?

That said, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama and Khadija Bukar Ibrahim have got their hands full and must settle down to work immediately to repositioning Nigeria’s foreign policy as stated in Chapter 2 of the Nigerian Constitution under Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy into a more formidable vehicle through which we could project our national power and values and advance our vital national and economic interests in the world.  We are hopeful that Mr Onyeama, in particular, with good background in law, political science and some international bureaucratic experience, will lead this effort.

Urgent tasks before the nation’s top two diplomats would be how to use Nigeria’s diplomatic channels to drive the nation’s economic recovery, foreign investments and uphold Nigeria’s sovereignty through maintenance of peace and security internally and regionally to ensure stability and prosperity, and the protection of the rights and dignity of all Nigerians resident in foreign countries. For long, Nigeria has neglected or failed to use its foreign policy to defend ordinary Nigerians against attacks and discriminations in foreign countries. It has also failed to leverage its foreign policy to pursue its economic and other vital interests. The new minister realised this also and on his first day on duty he was quoted as saying that he would focus on attracting more foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country. According to him

“We have missions and embassies in so many countries around the world and we have to turn them into hubs for our economic development programme. They have to play an important and major role in promoting access to markets in countries where they are situated and also in helping to promote foreign direct investment into Nigeria.”

This is time for Mr Onyeama and Mrs Ibrahim to walk the talk.

One major problem or challenge the new ministers will face is on how to realise President Buhari’s wish of pruning down the large number of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions around the world and improving their efficiencies without whittling down Nigeria’s influence around the world and harming its relations with its allies and friends, especially as it seeks to maximise its influence and gain a seat to represent Africa on the permanent membership of the Security Council. Already respected diplomats are arguing that the move may not save much for the country as the cost of closing and winding down missions is far greater than the cost of re-opening them, not to talk of the reputational costs.

Similarly, as Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Umunna Humphrey Orjiako, argued, “no actors in the field of diplomacy are likely to take a country seriously if the volume and reach of its foreign policy fluctuates with the quantity and price of crude oil it sells in the world market.” It remains to be seen how the new ministers handle this difficult task set by the president and make the foreign affairs ministry the hub and nerve centre of Nigeria’s efforts to reposition its economy and take its rightful place of honour among the comity of nations.