Why Nigeria is yet to appoint new ambassadors, by Amb. Tuggar

Lack of adequate funding was, on Tuesday, cited as part of the reasons why Nigeria has not sent appointees for foreign missions one year after President Bola Tinubu took over the mantle of leadership in Nigeria.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, disclosed this at the Ministerial Briefing to mark the first anniversary of the President Tinubu administration.

Amb. Tuggar said that the government inherited a tough financial situation, which made it difficult of many missions to receive adequate funding for their smooth operation.

His words, “There is no need to send an ambassador to a foreign mission when there is no money to run such places,” the minister explained but said however that efforts were being made to send people to those missions.

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But, the minister touted the facilitation of multi-million dollar investments into Nigeria within the last one year as one of the biggest achievements of the Tinubu administration, saying that the foreign affairs ministry had played a big role in the process.

Tuggar listed some of the foreign projects to include: €250 million investment from the Netherlands to boost existing business in Nigeria and another $14 billion worth of investment commitments from Indian investors across ICT, power, steel/manufacturing, agriculture, defence, telecom, space communications, digital solutions, insurance, processed foods, real estate, and hospitality.

Others, according to the minister include, financing agreement of £100 million on the Digital and Creative Enterprises Program and the signing of MOUs worth $600m between Nigeria and France aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in digital technology and creative industries, $2bn investment with Germany on the Nigeria-Siemens Power Project, $500m MOU to export LNG to Germany between Nigeria Riverside LNG and Germany’s Johannes Schuetze Energy Import AG.

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He explained that under the accord, Nigeria is to supply 850,000 tons of natural gas to Germany annually which is expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2026.

Tuggar also announced the signing of seven MOUs with Qatar to foster knowledge exchange, combat illicit trade, promote youth development, and ensure fair employment practices and the decision by the United States to contribute at least $12 million to Nigerian efforts to increase the transparency of public monetary management and civil society efforts to increase government transparency.

He also stated the determination of the Tinubu administration to launch Nigeria into the G20 group of nations.