This Day (Lagos)
25 October 2009
Lagos — Over 100 Nigerians resident in Zimbabwe last week demonstrated at the country's embassy in Harare accusing Ambassador Adekunle Adeyanju of failing to fully represent their interests.
The demonstrators, most of them males, were singing, chanting slogans and holding placards denouncing Ambassador Adeyanju.
They demanded that he resigns with immediate effect and be sent back to Nigeria.
Leader of the group Mr Clemence Felix, accused Ambassador Adeyanju of failing to fully carry out his diplomatic duties as Nigeria's representative in Zimbabwe.
"The ambassador should represent us in this country. He is posted here for our welfare, my brother, we have Nigerians in prison right now, but the embassy staff has done nothing about it. They have never visited them even a single day," he said.
Felix said that a Nigerian national was recently injured in a misunderstanding with immigration officials and sustained serious head injuries, adding that the embassy did nothing about it.
The protestors also said that the embassy staff failed to organise this year's 49th independence cerebration, which is held on October 1 every year, alleging that the Nigerian government had allocated US$100 000 for the event.
The protesters alleged the money was misused.
In his defence, Ambassador Adeyanju, said that his office was not appraised of some of the problems they were facing.
He denied receiving money for independence commemoration this year.
"No single penny has been sent to this embassy for the 49th independence anniversary and I believe the situation is the same to all the 104 Nigerian embassies in the world," he said.
The Nigerian diplomat assured the demonstrators that he was on top of the situation and was following diplomatic protocol to deal with the case of the injured Nigerian who was admitted at an undisclosed hospital in the capital.
"We will make our own contributions and the embassy will definitely assist the injured fellow countryman," he said.
Ambassador Adeyanju presented his credentials to President Mugabe at State House on July 25 2008 and confirmed the solidarity between the Nigerian people and their Zimbabwean counterparts.
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