Just when it seems the Muhammadu Buhari administration has hit the lowest ebb in a governance capacity and signaling for real national rebirth, it manages to find a further depth in ignominy. President Buhari’s nomination of the immediate past service chiefs as ambassadors, barely nine days after sacking them from the country’s security agencies is patently ill-conceived, morally reprehensible, and should be reversed immediately in the public interest. As a matter of personal honor, the ex-service chiefs should decline the offer; failure to which, the Senate should reject the nominations outright as it amounts to an egregious abuse of presidential patronage and power! “President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded the names of the immediate past Service Chiefs to the Senate as non-career Ambassadors-Designate,” presidential aide Bashir Ahmad disclosed in a tweet. Whatever motivation informed the president’s decision, the action was misguided and irredeemably wrong; the President either judged poorly; was wrongly advised or was so confounded by an urgent need to reward the ex-service chiefs. Either way, Buhari should rethink his action. To dispense ambassadorial appointments as a reward to men who failed woefully, to protect Nigerian lives and property is to do a great disservice to the country.
The ambassador-designates are retired Defense chief Abayomi Olonisakin, former Army chief Tukur Buratai, former Navy chief Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas and former Air chief Sadique Abubakar. Their nomination is subject to confirmation by the National Assembly. While many critics rated the ex-service chiefs low in the state of national security, Buhari said they had “overwhelming achievements in our efforts at bringing enduring peace to our dear country.” The ex-service chief’s nomination came nine days after Buhari replaced them – having headed the country’s security agencies for over five years; during which time, Boko Haram terrorists, Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers and armed bandits continue to rampage the country with impunity.
Borne out of insufficient thought and lacking the rigor required for such nominations, the president’s action devalues Nigeria and Nigerian diplomacy. It is not surprising that the disastrous decision has provoked intense public reaction and anger from Nigerians who see in the president’s action; an insult on their collective sensibilities as victims who paid the price for the incompetence of the ex-service chiefs. The appointment of ambassadors in any country is expected to be based on demonstrable high achievement in particular fields of human endeavor, notably diplomacy and international relations. By definition, it ought to be a scarce commodity and of such a nature that it is worth the while of diplomats to spend their lifetime in pursuit of the singular honor of representing their country abroad. Giving diplomatic appointments to soldiers with no experience in diplomacy devalues the honor and lumps apples and oranges in a hodgepodge that insults the sensibilities of truly worthy diplomats. What has happened with the appointment of the ex-service chiefs has truncated any pretense at the search for and reward of merit and excellence within the Foreign Service.
It begs the question whether Buhari is dispensing ambassadorial appointments to people who understand what it takes to defend Nigeria’s interest in the global arena, or throwing garlands of favor to the faithful. In this latest exercise, we appear to have hit rock bottom in our value system. Nigerians have wondered aloud how the highest levels of their government can be so impudent. Ambassadors being persons in the limelight in foreign countries are expected to be role models for others to emulate. None of the ex-service chiefs can be role models to anybody. Their nomination in itself was a typical Nigerian comedy of errors. From the public debate the action has generated, Nigerians are not challenging Buhari’s constitutional right to appoint ambassadors. Far from it! Their concern, instead, seems to be that there should be room for a measure of decorum and decency in the exercise of constitutional powers. The main grouse, and validly so, therefore, remains that in the case at hand, all virtues were totally discarded. And the action has no redeeming value to the president or the country.
In a continuing orgy of ineptitude, the presidency did not reference any antecedents of the credentials of the ex-service chiefs that make them suitable for their new assignments. It is a tragic irony that under their watch, Nigeria underwent a grisly metamorphosis to become one huge killing field of unimaginable depravity. The president should not be rewarding people who failed to serve their country at the highest levels with integrity. All these beg the question whether those in charge of these appointments know what they are doing. Nigerians are entitled to ask whether there were any consultations between the presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before these appointments were announced.
The ex-service chiefs might have done their best to combat insecurity; but their best wasn’t enough. Little surprise the clarion calls for their sacking came from every quarter in the polity; and when they were eventually sacked, the nation heaved a sigh of relief for it was good riddance. Therefore, at the risk of stating the obvious, it is legitimate to ask why Buhari is recycling these tired old men who are overdue retirement. In light of the seeming helplessness and somewhat confused mien over the present national decadence, Nigerians are curious to know why the president thinks ex-service chiefs who cannot be exonerated from the national security failures of the nation would be good ambassadors given the corruption that has almost without exception dogged their performance in the military.
Appointing ex-service chiefs barely nine days after they were sacked for incompetence sacrifices meritocracy on the altar of expediency as these officers cannot point to any tangible benefit Nigerians received from their activities in the military. Worse even, they are not part of the diplomatic corps as constituted and lacked the gravitas, political sagacity and gumption to effectively deliver in their new functions. It is here that the exemplary lives of the Anyaokus, Adefuyes, Ikimis, Gambaris, and others become instructive. In the diplomatic service, the private sector or public service, these men have over the years taken their callings and done just one thing: service to the fatherland. Just as tenacious as they were in their resolve to be truly Nigerian in all they did in their twilight years, it is a mark of how well they have served that the nation still calls them up for more of what they have given all these years. The president can take a cue from their dedication and selflessness to promote collective national interests as opposed to the parochial, sectional and even jaundiced line that seem the only path now.
It is shocking that this monumental blunder and error of judgment could have occurred apparently without due process or consultation with stakeholders in the foreign ministry. The Senate in its infinite wisdom should halt this descent into anarchy that diminishes both the presidency and the country. The President should be encouraged that rather than being a show of weakness, it is an act of courage for a leader to, upon recognizing the error of his action, reverse his decision. Such a reversal is in the public interest, and constitutes due respect for the democratic yearnings of the people. The government must begin to do things appropriately.
It is true that an ambassador is an appointee of the President and holds the job at the pleasure of the appointer. An ambassadorial appointment should be for only the serious-minded who are qualified to be so appointed if he or she is found fit and proper in all ramifications – intellect, managerial and other competencies – maturity, loyalty, patriotism – to serve the nation at such high level. These are qualities the ex-service chiefs don’t have; therefore their appointment is an institutional tragedy of great magnitude. Not only has the diplomatic tradition been brought low, both the presidency and Nigerian diplomacy are now objects of ridicule. Public office is a call to national duty and only the ready, willing, and able deserves it. The choice in this, of course, is that of the President. Needless to say how well his appointees perform will determine the President’s own report card as well as his place in history.