The success of a country’s foreign policy largely depends on the quality, expertise and professionalism of its diplomatic representatives. Career diplomats spend decades undergoing specialised training and gaining experience in negotiation, international law, and diplomatic protocol to effectively represent their country abroad.

However, Nigeria’s ambassadorial appointment system has often been criticised for undermining this professional structure, which has made some scholars to described the foreign policy as “ideologically inconsistent, operationally barren, philosophically and intellectually vague.”

Observers have noted that since the emergence of Fourth Republic, strategic alliances and economic diplomacy have been sidelined for political and psychological gratification.

Recent round of ambassadorial appointments which heavily tilt toward non-career diplomats, while the principle of Federal Character (equitable state representation) is only superficially observed.

Also noticed is the fact that the political appointees as ambassadors to strategic countries while career diplomats are assigned to less significant missions.

This reflected in the recently released ambassadorial posting of 31 career and 34 non-career ambassadors to various countries and the United Nations by the Bola Tinubu administration.

Such a practice, international relations expert argued, deprives experienced diplomats of opportunities to lead key missions but also risks weakening Nigeria’s diplomatic engagement with important global partners.

Analysts warn that when ambassadorial appointments are influenced by political loyalty rather than merit, the country’s diplomatic effectiveness and international standing can suffer.

Besides, it took a long journey to releasing the names and postings.
After taking office on May 29, 2023, the Tinubu administration began a review of Nigeria’s foreign policy and diplomatic representation.

As part of this restructuring, the president recalled all Nigerian ambassadors, both career and non-career, from foreign missions in September 2023, barely four months into the administration.

The recall affected more than 80 envoys serving in over a hundred diplomatic missions around the world.

The decision was intended to allow the government reassess its diplomatic priorities and align ambassadorial appointments with its foreign policy framework centred on the “4Ds”: democracy, development, demography, and diaspora.

Following the recall, Nigeria’s missions abroad were left without substantive ambassadors. Instead, chargés d’affaires and consuls-general were tasked with managing the day-to-day operations of the embassies.

These officials could maintain administrative and routine diplomatic activities but lacked the authority to conduct high-level diplomatic negotiations or represent Nigeria at the highest political levels.

Throughout 2024, the government did not immediately replace the recalled envoys.

During this period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, worked on compiling and submitting a list of potential nominees to the presidency.

The delay was attributed to several factors, including financial constraints affecting Nigeria’s foreign missions, the need to balance political and regional interests in the nomination process.

By early 2025, nearly 18 months after the recall, the Federal government began vetting and conducting background checks on potential ambassadorial nominees.

The next major step occurred in November 2025, when the president finally forwarded the first batch of ambassadorial nominees to the Nigerian Senate for confirmation.

The list reportedly included dozens of nominees who were to serve in key bilateral missions such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and India, as well as in multilateral institutions like the United Nations and the African Union.

Following Senate confirmation, the nominees were expected to undergo additional diplomatic procedures, including training, mandatory retreats, and the request for agreement, the formal approval of host countries required before an ambassador can assume duty.

Commenting, a diplomat and Professor of International Relations, Babafemi Badejo, noted that it is unfortunate that the president does not seem to prioritise foreign relations or prefers to be opaque by trying to undertake personal diplomacy in spite of the fact that he lacks the experience and expertise to do so.

“Little surprise that ambassadors are being appointed in the dying days of the PBAT administration. And little wonder some countries are reported to be rejecting some of the nominees. He can believe he would win. But for other countries, his winning in 2027 is a probability and in case he were to lose, they do not want to deal with recalls and Nigerian musical chairs on strategic relations.

“Since Nigeria has accepted a mix of political and career appointees as ambassadors, the emphasis should be on the quality of people being appointed. A good example would be the appointment of Prof. Ibrahim Gambari to the UN in New York. He did well in spite of not being a career diplomat. He is a competent professional.”

He maintained that appointments of ambassadors should not be job for the boys/girls, political settlements for incompetent people, as well as opportunities to go steal in foreign exchange in foreign countries, as tend to be the case in the past.

Similarly, Executive Director, CISLAC/TI-Nigeria, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani) stated that strategic postings should ideally prioritise countries with strong trade potential, security cooperation, diaspora presence, and geopolitical influence.

“Just as ambassadorial appointments are expected to align closely with clearly defined national strategic objectives. Overrepresentation in less strategic locations may reflect administrative convenience rather than clear national interest. On this note, the posting of Nigerian career ambassadors to non-strategic countries raises questions about our diplomatic priorities and efficient use of limited resources.

“While career diplomats deserve recognition and opportunities for service abroad, concentrating many postings in countries with limited economic, political, or security relevance to Nigeria may dilute the impact of the nation’s foreign policy. We expected a more balanced approach that ensures experienced diplomats are deployed where Nigeria’s economic diplomacy, investment promotion, and international influence can be maximised.

On what it says about Nigeria’s international diplomacy policy strategy, Musa said the current pattern reflects administrative political considerations rather than a coherent foreign policy strategy.

“The postings might be interpreted as lack of clear prioritisation in Nigeria’s international diplomacy policy. It can indicate that diplomatic deployments are not always fully aligned with strategic national interests such as trade expansion, security partnerships, technology transfer, or influence in key global decision-making centres.”

When significant diplomatic resources are directed to less impactful locations, he said it may weaken Nigeria’s capacity to maximise economic diplomacy and geopolitical leverage.

“While in practice, political appointees may bring strong political connections, influence, and direct access to the presidency, which can sometimes facilitate high-level negotiations and bilateral cooperation. On the other hand, when such appointments dominate key diplomatic missions, it may suggest that political considerations outweigh professional diplomatic expertise.

“This can weaken institutional capacity within the foreign service and reduce the effectiveness of strategic engagement. For us as a country to engage more effectively with the international community, appointments to critical missions should balance political trust with professional competence and diplomatic experience.”

Similarly, a Professor of International Relations, Taraba State University, Patrick Oromareghake, noted that Nigeria is classified in the international system as among the third world.

He noted that despite this the country’s foreign policy is dependent, dependent in a way that is not proactive, and not carried out to achieve specific objectives in line with the national policy.

“Posting non-career diplomats is outside the tenets of diplomacy, because when you talk about an ambassador or posting nationals to other countries, it is meant to achieve specifics about the national policy. So, posting people just for political patronage is a wrong method of carrying out diplomacy.

“Diplomacy is meant to be carried out by diplomats, people who are trained, career diplomats that are trained to carry out such task because it has its own tenets and schooling. There are skills involved. It is not the question of posting anybody there.

“When you put a square peg in a round hole, you will not be able to achieve the objectives. And in our own case, there are no specific foreign policy objectives. That is why people are just posted anyhow.”

Oromareghake also noted that it took time before government picked the ambassador and posting them saying it ought not to be. “As a government is coming to power, a government is supposed to be looking outside too what relationship it wants to have with other nations, what the nation is going to get from the other nations.

“So, specific career diplomats that are trained in that skill are meant to be posted to such places. Not political compensation or posting individuals that even have questionable character.

The bottom line is that things are just done haphazardly and specific objectives are not actually pursued, nor attained.”

On his part, Professor Remi Aiyede stated that while the appointment of non-career ambassadors to strategic countries has generated criticism some have argued that the political appointee ambassadors usually work alongside experienced career diplomats within the foreign service who support the operations of the mission. He added that in some cases, individuals appointed as ambassadors may possess strong professional or political backgrounds that could enable them to perform the role effectively.

“For instance, you cannot say that Senator Jimoh Ibrahim cannot function as a permanent representative to the United Nations given his background, his career and all of that. Also, if you also look at the ambassador posted to Canada, for instance, he is a former vice-chancellor and former minister of health.

“I think the real challenge is that when you look at some of the recurring names on the list, especially those who are already in their late 70s or in their early 80s, you wonder why would Nigeria be fielding people of those generations when we have very young, experienced and hardworking people, whether in politics or career foreign service, who could occupy those positions. I think we are taking this gerontocracy too far.”

He maintained that people who are dynamic, youthful, experienced and have capacity to deliver should have been picked for the task when non-career ambassadors are being considered.

Aiyede also spoke about issue relating to credibility and integrity noting that some nominees previously made strong and derogatory public criticisms of the government and the president per but later accepted ambassadorial appointments.
Critics argue that such reversals may undermine public trust in those individuals when representing Nigeria abroad. “People say people have changed. But you can’t eat your cake and have it. We can’t overlook certain matters of integrity and say people have changed.

Change for the better or change for the worse. You say certain things and then you eat your words. How do you think people will trust you when you are representing your country?

On what it says about wanting to engage with international politics strategically, Aiyede noted that although the present administration has its four Ds foreign policy trust but that when decisions are being made, politics trumps every other thing.

“So you consider what those people have contributed to the party, what they have done, and then you put them there as a kind of reward for their contribution, that’s what people call patronage politics.

“Take for instance the case of the former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman. You know in some countries if you hold a particular public position, you are supposed to have a resting period where you are exempted from taking some of those responsibilities for may be five years, given the sensitive position that you have held for the past ten years or so as chairman of INEC.

“As a public administration expert, for the sake of conflict of interest, you try to take certain factors into consideration. And I think this is something that is missing in most of the appointments that this government does.

“So, it is not as if we are saying these people cannot function. But for the purpose of public interest, public trust, effective international engagement, we say certain factors are supposed to be taken into consideration.”

He, nonetheless, stated that the president has the right to appoint whoever he wants to, but it is expected that he would season it with some very important eligibility criteria that will generate trust, both domestically and internationally.

Commenting on the rejection of an ambassador by the receiving country, Aiyede stated that it took too long for the decision to be made.

“And so many people thought that Nigeria has lost a lot by not having ambassadors in the last two plus of years or so. The government should have done better by appointing them early when the vacancies were there so that we have representation.

“In fact, some people attributed the situation with the genocide debate as part of the problem that if we had had these ambassadors in place, the issue would not have been that serious. People also talk about Nigeria seeking a permanent seat in the United Nations.

And they wonder how do you seek such a seat when for several years you don’t have representatives? So these are some of the problems. And it is also good that the Indians rejected this that it is coming late, which means if he returns in 2027, he would then appoint ambassadors early.”