Emir Sanusi calls for reform of Nigeria’s Foreign Service – TheNigerialawyer

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has called for the reform
of Nigeria’s Foreign Service to ensure effective application of the
country’s Foreign Policies, stating that the Foreign Policies also
needed to be reviewed.

Mr Sanusi made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during the launch of
the maiden Foreign Policy Journal by the Association of Retired
Career Ambassadors of Nigeria, ARCAN.

According to him, some of the challenges facing the foreign
service includes incoherence in Nigeria’s foreign policy,
appointments of politicians as ambassadors rather than career
foreign service officers.

He said that these amongst others were the challenges and
battles facing the foreign service since the 1970’s that were yet
to be resolved.

Mr Sanusi said that one of the ways of addressing these
challenges was for Public Servants to stand up to what was right
and avoid being used by some selfish politicians.

“These battles are still with us many years after, they are
relevant and fundamental issues and I still think that this
community has the responsibility of carrying on with these
battles.

“The first battle I met my father fighting as permanent
secretary was to protect the jobs of foreign service officers who
were supposed to be sacked as part of the purge of the
Murtala/Obasanjo’s administration.

“If public servants stand up for the right thing, things can
work in this country, if every other permanent secretary has stood
up to the military and say we will not let people go who have not
done anything wrong, they will not be treated as puppets.

“As a nation, we often blame politicians, we often blame people
in political office but the truth is, the things that happen in
this country only happens because everyone that has been put as a
check and balance decides to compromise.

“And one of the greatest battles we have to fight now is the
battle for the rediscovery of institutions and for professionals
and civil servants to stand up and do the right thing because they
are supposed to be there to guide the government.

“The second battle is that he inherited a ministry that is
filled with politicians as ambassadors and before he left as
permanent secretary, every ambassador was a career diplomat.

“He said we cannot have a foreign policy that is of the
liberation of Africa and have it run by politicians.

“The reality is that the best insurance you have for being well
represented abroad is to take people whom you have trained for
years to represent you. This is something we are all silent
about.

“Third was his insistence for the need of coherence in our
foreign policy,” he said.

Mr Sanusi said there was need for Nigeria’s foreign policy to be
clearly defined as a policy that targeted the reversal of these
inequalities and improvement in economical welfare of the
country.

He disclosed that based on the world bank review, an article
revealed that in 10 years, Nigeria would be home to over 25 per
cent of poor people in the world if things continued the way they
were.

The Emir explained that in some states , over 90 per cent of the
people were in poverty and this was poverty that translated into
low per capital income, malnutrition, not finishing school.

Mr Sanusi said it was important for Nigerians to know what
Nigeria’s foreign policy contained, stating that it had not been
well communicated to the populace.

He said that in 1970’s, it was made very clear and everybody
understood that the foreign policy in Nigeria was about the
decolonalisation of Africa, to get rid of apartheid, liberate
Angola.

Mr Sanusi also said that it was important for the domestic
policies to be set straight because for the foreign policy to work,
the domestic policies had to be effective and functional.

He said that in restoring Nigeria’s past glory, there was need
for fixing the physical position of government and reducing
Nigeria’s dependence on debt, explaining that Nigeria’s
vulnerability to creditors was critical for our Foreign policy.

“If you go to China to borrow money for infrastructure, you
cannot at the same time confront China for dumping subsidised
textile products that have destroyed your textile market,” Mr
Sanusi said.NAN