18 February 2008
editorial
Lagos — As ambassadors-designate get set to leave for their countries of accreditation some words of advice have become necessary.
Their mandate is primarily to represent Nigeria and her interests in foreign lands. This is by no means a simple task. It is indeed a serious charge that calls for utmost sense of patriotism.
It is therefore to be assumed that during their recent retreat, the ambassadors-designate were acquainted with all that is required of them. This is particularly of critical importance for the non- career diplomats among them. Persons who are privileged to be called upon to represent their country in foreign lands must realize that it is not merely a call to represent the political interests of the appointing government but even more importantly to protect the economic interests of their country.
In fact, effectiveness in economic diplomacy has become an important yardstick for assessing the success or otherwise of ambassadors in modern times. The ambassadors-designate must realize that Nigerians expect that they would put in much effort in shoring up the country's economic interests in their respective countries. This is more so for those of them that are going to highly industrialized countries such as the United States of America, Britain, France and China.
In some of the countries, the real challenge for the envoys is to help open new business frontiers for Nigerian entrepreneurs while also advancing the cause of bilateral trade between such countries and Nigeria. Again, the image of Nigeria in quite a number of countries is not an enviable one. It will take a great deal of skill at image laundering on the part of the new envoys to reverse the situation. They can if they are determined to do so.
We also expect that they would know that it is part of their duties to protect the interest of Nigerians resident in their host countries. This will not be ale and cake if experience is any guide. It is a highly demanding task, especially in countries with substantial Nigerian population. Still, the envoys have to try to give these Nigerians a sense of worth by protecting them from undue harassment by officials of the countries in which they live.
The frosty relations that often exist between Nigerians resident abroad and their country's embassies stem mostly from the shoddy manner in which the embassies handle matters concerning their welfare. The embassies in turn plead that they are often helpless because of poor funding. Most of the services they ought to provide to Nigerians on location require money. But the money is not there. Take the issue of renewing of passports. This ordinarily is a routine duty of the embassies. Experience, however, shows that some of them are hardly able to discharge this duty as promptly as they should because of inadequate logistics.
In order to halt this trend, the federal government must ensure that the embassies are well funded. Targets cannot be met if there is no proper funding. Quite a few of the embassies are in poor state in terms not only of infrastructure but also working funds. We recall with embarrassment that some years ago, a number of Nigerian embassies were unable to pay their rents, let alone provide their staff with the requisite working tools. It was a development that brought the nation international embarrassment. In that sort of situation, it is difficult to expect the embassies to live up to the people's expectation.
We do not know what plans the Yar'Adua government has to redress the situation. However, it is our hope that under his watch, the embassies will become really functional. This certainly will make it easier for the new envoys to achieve whatever targets the government may set for them.
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