A former foreign affairs minister, Major General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), has warned against replacing professionalism and merit in ambassadorial appointments with political convenience.

According to him, this will have damaging consequences for morale, professionalism, and national credibility.

Nwachukwu gave the warning while speaking at the public presentation of ‘Fragments of Time: My Foreign Service Years,’ by Ambassador Eineje E. Onobu, at the Rotunda Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.

Nwachukwu critiqued Nigeria’s foreign service in recent memory, saying: “It is disheartening that officers who have dedicated their lives to this profession find their advancement constrained.”

The line landed heavily in a room filled with serving and retired diplomats—many of whom have watched, often quietly, as career progression has increasingly collided with political appointment.

Nwachukwu escalated the argument into a reform demand, calling for the creation of a Foreign Service Commission to shield appointments and promotions from political interference, warning that without institutional protection, Nigeria’s diplomacy risks becoming inconsistent, vulnerable, and detached from professional standards.

He also pushed for a return to an 80–20 ratio in ambassadorial appointments—80 per cent career diplomats, 20 per cent political appointees, arguing that anything less would continue to erode institutional continuity.

Without reform, he said, Nigeria risks losing “the institutional memory and professional depth required to navigate an increasingly complex world.

“Our missions must be properly funded,” he added, pointing to under-resourcing as the silent accelerator of decline.

Earlier, former Minister of Aviation and policy analyst, Osita Chidoka, set a more reflective but equally piercing tone as a book reviewer. But beneath the warmth of his personal remarks lay a sharper subtext.

He described the author, Ambassador Onobu, and his wife as embodiments of civility and discipline, framing the memoir not just as a personal record, but as a mirror of a system that once worked better than it does now.

Veteran diplomats revisited the architecture of Nigeria’s foreign service, recalling the foundational reforms under Ambassador Remy Hanson, who helped transform the ministry from a skeletal structure into a functioning institution.

They also pointed to policy breakthroughs under former Foreign Affairs Minister, Bolaji Akinyemi, whose Medium Powers doctrine and Technical Aid Corps (TAC) remain among Nigeria’s most enduring diplomatic exports.

But even as history was being celebrated, they identified leadership, not systems, as the decisive factor.