Cash-strapped Nigerian embassies
THE issue, according to sources especially in Switzeland, Italy, Canada, United States and Germany, has to do with the failure of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to remit the salaries and allowances of the foreign service staff to the respective embassies and high commissions on time.
IT is disheartening to note that the diplomatic corps that used to be garbed in the reverential toga of protocol have now been shamefully derobed in the market square of international community with the avoidable denial of salaries and allowances.
TO add insult to injury, the embattled officials, according to sources, had to swallow their pride with the use of Ghanaians as fronts to secure accommodation, thus deepening the sinking image of Nigeria in the global space.
WHILE we, like many discerning Nigerians, shudder to visualise the reality of this story, we strongly call on the Federal Government to commence a high powered investigation into this serious allegation.
WE are particularly concerned about the consequential and negative impact of financial starvation of the nation's foreign missions, which serves as the most reliable template for assessing the integrity of Nigeria and Nigerians by their host countries. It is saying the obvious therefore, that if these diplomats could be rated as rejects by European and American landlords, it then stands to reason that many Nigerians abroad, however noble, will fall under the fixation of rent defaulters.
WHAT this diplomatic shenanigan has revealed, in our view, is that those entrusted with the delicate management of the nation's foreign policies are becoming bereft of the strategic dynamics inherent in diplomatic niceties. This, of course, has become manifest in the increasing rate of embarrassing occurrences in the Nigerian embassies. The Cote d'Ivoire visa scam and the life-threatening feud between the country's ambassador in Kenya and his wife which attracted widespread outrage are too sordid to be forgotten so early.
AS if suffering from irreversible amnesia however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears to have learnt nothing and gained nothing as demonstrated by its complacency to the visible siege on the country's image at international fora.
THE Federal Government, we like to say, must react swiftly to this undignified incidence in the nation's embassies in Europe and America. Nigerians are entitled to know if money was actually released from the source to these embassies. If the answer is positive, then the authorities must unravel the culprits behind the delay in the disbursement of the diplomats' emoluments. Should the government be culpable in this festering misdemeanor, then it is very unfortunate. This kind of tardiness in the payment of salaries and allowances of diplomats, it needs be harped, may result in self-help that may be associated with other criminal activities by the embassy staff as manifested in Cote d'Ivoire where some Nigerian diplomats contrived criminal antics to line their pockets with the sale of "police character certificate" to unsuspecting Nigerian visa seekers at exorbitant amount.
If to the contrary, voted monies are found to have been released and then diverted to personal accounts for personal gains by the heads of the embassies and foreign missions, appropriate sanctions must be meted out to culprits to serve as a deterrent to others. The public should also be notified of the result of this very critical investigation when concluded. When such corrupt officials are subjected to public odium, it will certainly deter others.
PERHAPS the government needs to be reminded that the business of foreign representation is an arduous task which requires discretion and abundant tact. A situation where the diplomats are exposed to degradation is not only pushing them to criminal temptations but also endangering the image of the county in the comity of nations.
Tribune
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