Foreign Service officers as enfant terribles, the Lamuwa Debacle and other issues.

By Odafe Emudiaga

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is well aware of the aftermath of the recent election, which has left Nigerians worldwide in shock due to the uncivilized conduct and aggression of a group known as the Obidients, supporters of opposition politician Peter Obi. Their actions have led to a reevaluation of national unity, given their reckless and aggressive mindset.
Unfortunately, we see more of these arise in our public institutions; it has become imperative that there is some truth in the ad hominem name “Obidiots,” which means they are simply “Idiots.” This has become more glaring in the ensuing melodrama, the fallacy of representation, blatant hypocrisy, and above all, ethno-jingoistic gymnastics that is playing out at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a select and entitled group of officers from the Southwest in particular, as exemplified in the matter of the forthcoming posting.

These group of officers have used the Lamuwa Sexual Scandal Debacle to perpetuate untruths, half-truths, and outright fallacies to ensure that they are sent to juicy posts abroad. Lamuwa is not without his sins of unbridled sexual lust. Still, it is high time he stops being the doormat of the woes faced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, even in the face of glaring extenuating circumstances.

Foreign Service Postings politicised for self-aggrandisement.

With Ambassador Lamuwa suspended, various self-serving groups across all levels have launched a smear campaign to manipulate the posting process, ensuring that their cronies secure the most desirable postings. To the uninitiated, the path to postings, such as in the Military, is clear through the posting committee, where due diligence is a priority. However, the court of public opinion should be aware that the criteria for appointing Consuls General and Charge d’ Affaires et are not solely based on seniority, but also consider other factors. These factors include professionalism/merit, application of the Federal Character principle, fairness, gender, acquisition of relevant experience, good character, sound mind, integrity, professionalism, and absence of disciplinary issues against the nominee. Yet, these self-appointed groups of avaricious foreign service officers, much like their Obidient counterparts, are working tirelessly to undermine the process through means other than due process, primarily through a mundane process they have dubbed a non-paper, where they continue to propagate the same half-truths and lies.

Mr President and the public must note that an induced poverty mentality has enmeshed the population, where everyone tries to corner so-called “juicy opportunities,” which has crept into the pristine civil service tradition. The age-long career of protecting and projecting the interests of one’s country outside the national shores one’s country has become a transactional vocation placed on the altar of incompetence.

Unfortunately, opportunistic foreign service officers, like their superiors some months ago, have become entitled spoilt brats dictating where to be sent or else all hell will break loose.

Time to name and shame

According to the Gospel of John, the Pharisees, to discredit Jesus, brought a woman charged with adultery before him. Then, they reminded Jesus that adultery was punishable by stoning under Mosaic law and challenged him to judge the woman so that they might then accuse him of disobeying the law. Jesus thought momentarily and then replied, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.” The people crowded around him were so touched by their consciences that they departed. It is time to remind Foreign Service Officers of the many sins of Ambassador Bolaji Akinremi, a disgraced diplomat struggling to be posted as envoy despite his career-long embargo of being banished to Tafawa Balewa House. There is no iota of difference between what Lamuwa has been accused of and what Ambassador Pastor Akinremi had been indicted of in the past, the sordid episode of sexual harassment in Asia, which led to his being grounded at HQ. It is time to revisit the Bolaji Akinremi sexual scandal in the name of justice and equity. What is good for Lamuwa is also good for Bolaji —a clear case of Quid pro quo.

The second name that deserves an ignorable mention is Ambassador Ibiyemi A. Ajiboye-Roberts, from Ogun State. She has written petition after petition and mudslinging whoever comes in between her and her self-serving interests. It is on record that she is not the most senior Foreign Service Officer in her State (Ogun). There is a senior officer who is. Moreover, the CGs and CDAs were appointed based on regional representation. In the case of the Southwest, Ambassador Afolabi Gbadebo from Oyo State was appointed Consul-General to Shanghai. In contrast, Ambassador Folowosele Oludare Ezekiel from Osun State was appointed Consul-General to Hong Kong, representing the Southwest. One must mention that Richard Adejola from the Southwest is still in Geneva despite the recall by Mr President.

With this, one must ask rhetorically, what else does Ajiboye Roberts want? That is making her run from pillar to post. In her interest and the career, she so much cherishes, she should cease, face the work of diplomacy, and leave transactional postings.

Mr President, sir, we must be careful to avoid the deodorising of the coming stench of ethnic jingoism from foreign service officers, especially at a time when Emilokan is being misinterpreted as Yoruba Ronu ethnic agenda. You are a nationalist, and this must be continuously drummed into the ears of foreign service officials. You must succeed.

Odafe Emudiaga, a public affairs analyst, writes from Block B, Flat 9, Aso Savings Estate near Papal Ground, Karsana, Abuja.