Ashiru: I never knew I’d become minister

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Olugbenga Ashiru has said he has no regrets for his actions while in office.

He spoke yesterday while handing over to his successor, Prof. Viola Onwuliri.

Ashiru described his two years at the ministry as eventful and fulfilling, especially as he never thought he would ever become a minister barely four years after retiring from the Foreign Service.

He said: “When I joined the service, our ambition was to become an ambassador. It was not our ambition to become permanent secretaries; a number of us achieved that ambition and that is why I am very happy today.

“I have no expectation to even dream that I will become a Foreign Minister throughout the years. So, I am leaving as a fulfilled man. The memories I am leaving behind are the qualities of the officers that I know can hold the Foreign Service for the future. They are professional and experienced and I leave the Foreign Service in their hands.”

He said he enjoyed the workers’ cooperation throughout his stay.

He said: “While we were in my office having ministerial meeting (last Monday), one of the decisions we took, which I am now very confident that the two ministers and Permanent Secretary will fulfil, is that all officers on level 17 in their order of seniority down the line on a particular quota, their names should be submitted for approval for appointment. We also agreed that the ongoing process of appointing new ambassadors should continue.

“So, I am happy that I am leaving the service in the hands of ministers and a Permanent Secretary who believe in you. Prof Viola has highlighted all the goals we set when we came in, to use foreign policy to support the economic programme of government, to use foreign policy to support the infrastructure development of the country, to use foreign policy to create jobs and I believe we have delivered substantially all the goals but as we have said before, in the year 2012 the total inflow into the country was in the region of $8 billion but we are happy even this year we will surpass this figure. We have been able to ensure a rise in the profile of Nigeria. When we came in, we identified 24 international positions that Nigerians could get and of the 24, today we have secured for Nigeria and Nigerians 22 international positions, including for the first time, the position of commissioner in the Africa Union. My colleagues will testify that three times we tried to get the post and three times we failed. In fact, one of them was a candidate but today we have it. Another post is that of the president of International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome, with Dr Nwaze as president. We have made changes; we have created a number of departments to be able to focus more on investment promotion because that is a high priority. We have formed strategic partnership with some countries, in terms of investment promotion to our country. As the minister said, we will be appointing more ambassadors and this is the first time in history that we will be appointing many ambassadors, especially from career officers.”

The Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Martins Uhomoibhi, described Ashiru as one of the five career diplomats to have served as a minister at the ministry.

The acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, said it was not how long but the legacy left behind. She said Ashiru could not be faulted in terms of legacy. She said the former minister used diplomacy to boost economic growth and development.