The backlash generated by the recent posting of ambassadors-designate assumed a new dimension over the weekend when Sunday Telegraph learnt that most of the names may not have passed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More baffling was that the posting was released by the Presidency, as against the standard practice of publishing it through the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a diplomatic source told Sunday Telegraph.

“The manner the posting was done indicated that the Foreign Affairs Ministry made no reasonable input, if any at all to the posting. I can tell you on good authority. Even more disturbing is the undiplomatic tirade of these ambassadors-designate on social media in recent times,” the source said.

A former Ambassador, who is familiar with the process, said that the Foreign Minister, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, may have been kept in the dark over the list. He said he was not sure the Minister vetted the list but insisted that, “it appears the security agencies vetted the names and passed to the Presidency for announcement.”

While the Minister did not respond to Sunday Telegraph’s calls, the Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye merely refereed our reporter to the Presidential Spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, who was yet to send a reply to our text message at press time.

Not a few Nigerians have expressed great concern over the posting, which they said, tilted heavily towards politicians and non-career diplomats, at the expense of the professional envoys with years of meritorious service. Pioneer National Chairman and founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, said the list was embarrassing to the nation, and shameful.

“I find the whole thing a little embarrassing both to the government and to Nigeria as a country. It shows clearly that either those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are incompetent or that they are, but they gave the right advice to the presidency and the presidency didn’t care. Now, this ugly thing has happened.

It’s a shame, honestly and Nigeria has often exposed itself to embarrassments like this in so many ways.” While Chief Okorie acknowledged that most of the major countries like France, U.S. and the U.K. always had non-career diplomats, who are renowned politicians, the calibre and pedigree of most of the ambassadors fall below par.

“In this particular case, it appears that the President tried to use this ambassadorial posting to patronise his attack dogs, people who cannot be said to have attained any reasonable international image to command the type of respect an ambassador in those countries should command.

“The quality of ambassadors-designate didn’t reflect the array of personality and technocrats for which Nigeria is known, because a diplomat or an ambassador is the representative of the government of Nigeria in the receiving state. He is the President that is being seen representing his country and that also includes the way the citizens of Nigeria, who are living in those countries see the ambassadors, as the shortcut to seeing the President of the country.

So, when you send these kinds of characters to those places, you give an impression that Nigeria is lacking in quality representation.” He added that the announcement of ambassadors should not even have come from the presidency, after the President’s approval. He said, “it was the Minister of Foreign Affairs that should have released the list.

Everything about this whole thing happened as though there’s no antecedent that people can go back to records and see how things were done in the past because this is the first time Nigeria is facing this type of embarrassment.”