So when appointing someone to be your ambassador in a top, important, socially conscious, politically charged and historically sensitive nation like Germany, you go for an experienced, levelheaded and shrewd diplomat, not a career political jobber and incorrigible rabble rouser that has repeatedly made abhorrent and distasteful remarks that dredged up dark and painful episodes of the history of the very country he is supposed to be an ambassador to.
Last year, President Donald Trump declared Nigeria a country of particular concern over the purported targeted killings of Christians in the nation’s Middle Belt region. One crucial issue that Uncle Sam’s involvement in Nigeria’s perennial security predicament nudged to the forefront of public discourse at the time was Tinubu’s refusal to appoint ambassadors for any of Nigeria’s next 109 diplomatic missions abroad, which include 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates. What this meant was that for more than two years after coming to power, the country did not have any seasoned and experienced diplomats to interface with foreign nations on its behalf and engage in important, high-stakes bilateral engagements with the nations they were posted to.
Many argued that the nation’s lack of ambassadors in key countries was responsible for the misconception and misinterpretation of the dynamics surrounding the Nigerian security crisis. They opined that if Nigeria had substantive ambassadors the characterisation of Nigeria as a dark place where instability and violence are the norm, where persecution and targeted killings of Christians are unwritten convention would not have formed let alone become the centrepiece of another nation’s foreign policy. This nation has mastered the art of feigning genuine concern to advance its sinister interests.
After the castigation that trailed his refusal to appoint ambassadors after two years in office and as part of an effort to burnish the image of the country which has been somewhat sullied by the Christian genocide label, President Tinubu last December appointed 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate. 15 of the ambassadorial appointees are career ambassadors while 17 nominees are non-career.
One would have thought that after over two years of not appointing ministers, the president would come up with worthy, sound and exceptional personnel to man the nation’s diplomatic outpost but the majority of those who made the ambassadorial list are characters whose personality and disposition do not fit that of a person who should occupy such a plum and sensitive position. However, many names stuck out like a sore thumb as they raised eyebrows over their inclusion among the ambassadorial nominees. Their inclusion makes the list read like a compensation programme rather than a conscious effort to address the lack of a much-needed representative of the country in foreign nations.
The non-career ambassadorial nominee list came across as a compendium of who’s who in the league of characters with uninspiring reputations and distasteful antecedents. These characters include a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta), and former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu. Others whose logic and rationality behind their nominations have been questioned are former governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, businessman, lawyer and Senator from Ondo State and Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister from Osun State.
On Tuesday, a report emerged that Germany rejected the appointment of Fani-Kayode as the Nigerian ambassador to the European country. People’s Gazette reported that the former minister was rejected over rabid ethnic and religious slurs. According to the media outlet, the German government said it rejected Mr Fani-Kayode’s nomination due to his “erratic behaviour, controversial past statements, particularly his divisive ethnocentric, tribalistic, and religious fundamentalist comments in Nigeria”, which the European country said was “destabilising”. Reliable sources in the government also confirmed that development and disclosed that he may be redeployed to South Africa.
The truth is that the rejection of Fani-Kayode’s nomination did not come across as a surprise to many. If anything, the acceptance of his nomination by the German government is what would have stupefied and astounded many. A simple Google search of Fani-Kayode would have availed anyone of his base, undignifying, vile and unsavoury dogwhistle. But then it does not appear that President Bola Tinubu is exactly interested in the antecedents and behavioural patterns of those he appointed as ambassadors. In fact, it appears that the more unscrupulous, uninspiring and pathetic a person is the higher their chances of being picked, but then for a president who views every issue and situation through the prism of politics rather than public good and national interest, this is not surprising.
But there should be a limit to how far one leverages every situation and circumstance to advance their selfish and destructive political objectives. A serious and nationalistic president should not have to compromise on certain expectations and requirements for a critical ambassadorial position because he wants to accommodate his own eccentricity and political agenda. Diplomats by profession are expected to be astute but reasonable negotiators, indefatigable lobbyists and likeable personalities with a sterling track record and enviable antecedents. So when appointing someone to be your ambassador in a top, important, socially conscious, politically charged and historically sensitive nation like Germany, you go for an experienced, levelheaded and shrewd diplomat, not a career political jobber and incorrigible rabble rouser that has repeatedly made abhorrent and distasteful remarks that dredged up dark and painful episodes of the history of the very country he is supposed to be an ambassador to.
Fani-Kayode would likely have escaped the intense scrutiny that his appointment attracted if he were to be appointed to occupy a position in the Nigerian government because his dangerous and troubling past remarks would have been overlooked or even condoned. Donning the toga of a demagogue and rabble rouser tends to play well with the Nigerian political class which was why the national assembly ratified his appointment in the first place. But outside Nigeria, especially in a country that takes optics, branding and public image seriously and frowns at villifying and casting aspersions on their history, such behaviour will be severely punished.
Fani-Kayode must know that public figures and intellectuals owe it to the public to act responsibly, reasonably and respectfully, they must carry themselves with grace and show restraint in certain situations, when you hide under public commentary to make utterly indecorous, uncivil and despicable comments about an individual or a group of individuals while still secretly nursing ambition to hold public office and government position, then you should know your past will become an albatross to achieving your dream when the time comes.
