By Citizen Bolaji O. Akinyemi
A Presidency of Paradox
When Bola Ahmed Tinubu rode into power under the slogan of Renewed Hope, Nigerians expected a restoration of governance at home and credibility abroad. But two years down the line, what do we see? A President constantly on the move—shuttling between world capitals—while the very springboards of Nigeria’s diplomacy, its embassies and high commissions, remain headless and hollow.
This paradox begs the question: what is Tinubu hiding from Nigerians, and what is he trying to cover from the global community?
The Intellectual Spark: Dr. Ola Olateju’s Intervention
This question is not raised in a vacuum. It emerges from the detailed and courageous analysis of Dr. Ola Olateju in Political Panorama, Issue No. 17 (June 2, 2025), titled “Nigeria Without Ambassadors: A Silent Crisis in Tinubu’s Foreign Policy Vision.”
Olateju, a seasoned political scientist with a PhD from Swansea University and an impressive record of scholarship and civic engagement, laid bare the subsisting emptiness of our foreign embassies. His piece, meticulously researched, stripped away the excuses of “financial constraints” and “security vetting delays,” showing instead how Nigeria’s prolonged absence from global representation is a self-inflicted wound.
It is his intellectual labour that provides the canvas upon which I now paint this sharper, more conscience-pricking interrogation: if our embassies are empty, while our President is busy globe-trotting, then should we not ask—what exactly is being hidden, and from whom?
The Empty Embassies: Silence as Strategy
Since September 2023, Nigeria has had no substantive ambassadors in most of its foreign missions. As Olateju’s essay demonstrates, the cost is more than administrative; it is strategic self-sabotage.
Ambassadors are the eyes, ears, and voices of the state abroad. Their absence reduces Nigeria’s foreign presence to shadows. It silences our voice in multilateral forums, weakens our hand in negotiations, and abandons our citizens abroad.
This silence is not oversight; it is strategy. And therein lies the hidden truth: a deliberate personalization of diplomacy.
Personalization of Statecraft
Tinubu’s foreign travels, devoid of ambassadorial structures, centralize negotiations in his person. Trade deals, bilateral talks, and multilateral commitments—normally institutionalized through embassies—are reduced to presidential handshakes and fleeting announcements.
What happens when the President returns to Abuja? Who follows up in those capitals? Who drafts the cables, negotiates the details, and locks in Nigeria’s interest?
By refusing to appoint ambassadors, Tinubu ensures that accountability rests nowhere but his office. This creates room for cronies to monopolize opportunities that should be national in character. As Olateju rightly observed, diplomacy without diplomats is nothing but theatre—and costly theatre at that.
The Cost of a Silent Nigeria
1. Strategic Marginalization:
Nigeria, once the conscience of Africa, is absent in key multilateral spaces. Who represents us on ECOWAS’ crisis over the Sahel? Who lobbies for our developmental interests in Geneva? Silence has become our policy.
2. Diaspora Abandonment:
With 15 million Nigerians abroad contributing over $20 billion annually in remittances, embassies should be their shield. Instead, citizens are stranded in detention cells, without an ambassador to escalate their cases.
3. Economic Self-Sabotage:
Investment thrives on credibility. Ambassadors open doors, lobby investors, and defend national interest. Nigeria’s absence has meant lost opportunities while smaller African states like Rwanda and Ghana punch above their weight.
4. Institutional Demoralization:
Dozens of career diplomats languish in Abuja, waiting for deployment. The President’s indecision is their exile. What message does this send about merit, professionalism, and service?
What is Being Hidden?
The refusal to appoint ambassadors hides three things:
Weak Institutions: Nigeria’s institutions are so hollowed that governance depends on personal performance. Tinubu cannot trust the system, so he centralizes it in himself.
Crony Advantage: By bypassing ambassadors, he shields sensitive trade and diplomatic dealings from institutional scrutiny, allowing cronies to corner opportunities.
Diplomatic Paralysis: The absence covers the fact that Nigeria has no coherent foreign policy doctrine under this government—only episodic travels and empty rhetoric.
Covering from the Global Community
Every handshake abroad is a performance, a mask to cover the dysfunction at home. But global actors know. They see the absence of Nigerian envoys. They note the void in negotiations. They sense the weakness.
And the danger is this: in diplomacy, vacuums do not remain empty. Other powers step in. Nigeria’s silence opens the door for France, China, and even smaller African states to dictate the terms of continental politics.
The Moral Reckoning
Nigeria once led the anti-apartheid struggle. We brokered peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Our diplomats were legends of courage and clarity. Today, our embassies are ghost houses.
“Ilu ki i wa lai ni olori” — no town exists without a leader. Yet Nigeria’s missions exist without ambassadors. Our nation wanders without a diplomatic head.
Olateju’s intervention is timely. It is a scholarly alarm bell. But beyond scholarship lies the moral reckoning: will Nigeria continue to drift leaderless in global politics while our President performs at summits?
Call to Action: Let Nigeria Speak Again
Tinubu must:
1. Immediately nominate ambassadors for Senate confirmation.
2. Appoint on merit, not patronage.
3. Rebuild a coherent foreign policy doctrine.
4. Restore embassies as the springboard of diplomacy, not presidential theatrics.
Conclusion: The Question that Haunts Us
Dr. Ola Olateju has done the intellectual heavy lifting, exposing the silent crisis in Tinubu’s foreign policy vision. My task has been to translate that intellectual diagnosis into a political and moral charge.
So, what is Tinubu hiding from Nigerians? That our institutions are too weak to function. That diplomacy has been hijacked for personal advantage. That Nigeria, in truth, is absent where it most matters.
And what is he covering from the global community? That Africa’s so-called giant has lost its roar.
But history has ears, and silence is never permanent. Nigeria will speak again—if not through this government, then through the people’s eventual awakening.
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.
Email:bolajiakinyemi66@gmail.com
Facebook:Bolaji Akinyemi.
X:Bolaji O Akinyemi
Instagram:bolajioakinyemi
Phone:+2348033041236
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