Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama in this interview with Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwon and Correspondent Vincent Ikuomola sheds light on how the Buhari administration has changed Nigeria’s foreign affairs narrative in two years fighting insurgency, corruption and his vision for an enduring foreign affairs policy.
What have you been able to do to address Nigeria’s foreign affairs burden that the Buhari administration met on ground?
Yes, when we came on board, what was the image of Nigeria from the perspective of the outside world? Let’s take security: What was Nigeria in the news for all the time? We were in the news because of Boko Haram, Chibok girls and disastrous engagement of the government about security challenges. That was what Nigeria was becoming to be known for. You will recall that the then Central Bank governor announced $20 billion hole in the financial resources of the government and he was pushed out and that captured the attention of the world. You will also recall that there was a sudden collapse of oil prices and the economic challenges the country was facing was so enormous and so our image at that time was that of Nigerians facing the Sahara, Mediterranean and those fleeing the country. So, it was a very negative narrative really about the country.
The first positive narrative was that for the first time, Nigeria was able to have a peaceful change of government from one party to another and Mr. President came on board. So, we had now the possibility of rebranding the country and developing a new narrative and this was the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Not just changing the narrative, but also in terms of actions that we took. With regards to the security narrative, of course Mr. President made a very decisive intervention; military strategies completely changed, which were extremely important. But equally important was the foreign policy strategy that redefines the security narratives of the challenges.
So, we reached out to all the neighbouring countries and formed multinational taskforce and that was extremely important. We reached out to other foreign countries and we were also able to convince them to come on board and to help us in the fight against terrorism because terrorism has become a global challenge. So, it was the foreign policy thrust of the government that was able to build a coalition that has successfully dismantled Boko Haram.
Then, if look at the other challenges – governance and corruption – again it was foreign policy thrust in which we engaged with international communities that enabled us to get foreign countries to support the anti-corruption struggle of this government. Again, the narratives shifted to one of the government that is seriously fighting corruption.
Thirdly, with regards to the economy, we had to now project the image of the country by gaining confidence of foreign direct investment into this country. And again, this requires a foreign policy strategy that ensures a successful outreach to other countries. Leaders of other countries saw the credibility of the President and this government and started a different narrative of how we are facing economic challenges, moving from a mono-economic of oil to diversifying our economy.
So, in two years, I think we have been able to gain the confidence of the international community that this is a government that is serious and that they can do business with.
Outside the picture you have painted, what can you also say is the foreign policy thrust of this administration?
You know, ultimately what every country wants is a strong economy and prosperity for its citizens. On a global economy as we have today, we have to be competitive and deliver economic dividends to our country. So, our foreign policy is to transform our country economically to become competitive in the global market place. So, we are re-orienting our foreign engagement to promote economic development.
How are we going about it? We are going about it by putting in place mechanism to make the Foreign Ministry a hub to facilitate a direct market access for business and traders to 119 markets around the world and to facilitate the foreign direct investment from the 119 countries around the world into Nigeria with no bottleneck at all, just through the interface of the Foreign Ministry. So, we want to transform the Foreign Ministry into an effective agency for Nigerian trade promotion. To transform the economy, the Federal Government has put in place some mechanisms to change how Nigerians do business and the way people do business with us – the Ease of Doing Business. What are you doing to change attitudes of diplomats in our embassies?
We are building a portal in each of our embassies in 119 countries around the world. We are going to have a trade officer, who will be responsible essentially for trade promotion, and through this portal, any Nigerian business can upload unto the portal and it will go into 119 countries and our embassies or missions will be responsible for promoting and finding access to market in each of those countries. We are going to redefine the job description in each of the embassies and have a mechanism for tracking and evaluation for performance. So, each embassy and mission is going to have target for business match-making and their assessment will be based on delivery.
Beyond the vision of trade promotion, how prepared and equipped are the officers to understand the new vision and mission?
Capacity-building is an ongoing process and we would want to invest more in constant training and we are partnering with some other countries that have also developed economic diplomacy of their side of foreign policy action for us to also imbibe best practices. But you are right, I think that the appropriate capacity is of importance and a lot of these will also be done at the entry point, getting the right people and also putting in place good training programmes.
We are in recession, a situation, which has seriously affected Nigerian embassies and missions. Do you think we can achieve the required impact with lack of funding of the missions as well as the country’s foreign obligations?
There is a strong case we are making for increasing the funding for foreign missions and in fact, for all our foreign engagements. There are comparisons that were made with other countries; what countries spend and the percentage of their budget on foreign affairs and what Nigeria spends. We spend far less than all the countries on the same level as ourselves. If you look at Egypt, South Africa and other countries, you will find they are spending five per cent and 10 per cent of their budgets on foreign affairs. If you look at Nigeria, it is not up to one per cent. Clearly, if you spend the money, you will also get a better result. So, I think we can do more in that direction. But we have to leave with what we have and we are looking at imaginative ways of addressing some of the issues.
What about the issue of owing of rents and staff salaries?
We are going to be engaging the Ministry of Finance and the Sovereign Wealth Fund and certain banks to introduce a mortgage system, where we could be paying mortgage in Nigeria in naira as we try and acquire and own more of our properties abroad. We are facing this problem because a lot of our properties are on rentage and so, when we have this high and low in our financial system, we certainly have challenges in paying rents. So, we are looking at that.
Then, owing staff salaries in a lot of these countries, again we are also looking at that and how we can make direct payment. But on the other hands, we are preaching prudence in managing resources by these embassies. So, we are trying to do a lot on that.
On the ministry idea of rationalising the embassies, how far have you gone?
We have made proposals and we are in the process of rationalising the embassies and keeping people within the agreed range, in terms of numbers of staff. We are also looking at closing a few embassies. So, it’s an ongoing process. It is something that will take a lot of time and in fact, what has become apparent actually is the enormous cost of closing the embassies and downsizing. On the face of it, it is not a win-win, where you just reduce cost and you are done with that. But its enormous cost will make you wonder whether that is the way to go. So, that is why we are also looking at other options rather than just closing or just reducing staff.
Nigeria is not getting favourable gains from agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the ways Nigerians are being treated. What do you think is responsible and what are you doing to correct that?
That we are not getting what we deserve, I won’t agree that is correct. In terms of positions, I think we were selected in most of the positions we competed for. Then in terms of respect, you will find that a lot of African countries look up to Nigeria to drive processes. Like in the case of the Gambia, they looked up to Nigeria to lead that. Many heads of state are coming here. You find that in big international meetings such as G7 and G20, Nigeria is invited. Our President is invited to sit on the top table. Nigeria has been on the Security Council a number of times. So, I think we are getting quite a lot from what we deserve.
On the issue of the ways Nigerians are been treated in foreign countries, I think we also have to look, unfortunately, at the fact that we also have a lot of Nigerians in foreign countries that do not obey the laws of those countries. Some are involved in criminalities, in drugs, in prostitution, human trafficking, 419 and a lot of irregular immigration. If you have been dealing in drugs and you are convicted, they will execute you. If you are involved in prostitution and drug dealing in some countries, you might have people attacking Nigerians. So, unfortunately, the reality is that we have a lot of Nigerians who engage in criminality in a lot of these countries. What you find in the news very often is that Nigerians are being executed in this country and Nigerians are being deported in this country. So, we have to also look at that, otherwise, I wouldn’t say if there were an agenda in all these countries to target Nigerians or to treat Nigerians badly, because after all, in a lot of these countries, Nigerians are thriving, doing extremely well even in South Africa; a lot of Nigerians are doing fabulously well in the U.S. and all over the world.
Why the question came up is because of what our people are facing in South Africa, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Experts said what we are getting are not in consonance with what we invested there. What do you think the Federal Government is doing differently to correct the impression?
I think the reason why we have not been able to always benefit economically in a lot of these countries is because a lot of our businesses are not really structured to get market access in other countries, because there are lot of things that are involved – you need to have the capital, foreign exchange and the resources to go out and catch a market. And I think that, that is what is lacking and also intelligence – I mean not having knowledge of the terrain in a lot these countries, how to navigate and make investments. That is why we in the Foreign Ministry are now trying to do, to be the agents to facilitate that market access for Nigerian businesses. We cannot just blame it on these countries themselves.
I said we are trying to create an arm in the ministry where every Nigerian business that wants to invest in any country or wants to export to any country, will be able to go through the foreign affairs and our embassy in the country. They are going to follow for them to get into these countries and invest or partner different partnerships that will benefit the two countries.
What is state of the recovery of the Abacha loot?
Nigeria is dealing with illicit financial flows and the most important thing is to get the other governments to support the process. In the past, there was a belief that if you return this money to Nigeria, other people will embezzle the money. That is why the Swiss have attached conditions. What we have been able to achieve in this government is to give that confidence that this government is not going to embezzle money that is sent back. So, they are working with us to get the money back. We have hundreds of millions back already, and there are others in the pipeline. It is a very bureaucratic and legal intensive process, but the important thing is that we have the goodwill of all these countries in helping us to get the money back.
What do you want to be remembered for?
One, we are trying to make the institutions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies stronger. We are not up to 21 century institutions in our work procedures, the infrastructure we have in place and the capacity of the people who are working there. The first legacy I will like to create is I will have to do a comprehensive auditing – the first comprehensive list of the Foreign Ministry and its embassies. It is that analysis that will enable us to be able to have a roadmap so anybody who come into the ministry in five years to 10 years’ time, he will have that blueprint to take on to improve the ministry. We don’t have the resources to do all of that, but at least we know what needs to be done.
Number two, I think we are in a globalised world, and it is a global marketplace and for each country to survive, we have to be a competitive agent to earn us global market place. I want the Foreign Ministry to be vast and active in facilitating Nigerian business market access and promoting Nigerian businesses without any of the huddles and bottlenecks to attract foreign direct investments. The foreign ministry will not just be about diplomacy, which of course is very important, but will be an active agent in trade facilitation and trade formation in the country.
The third legacy I would like to leave is the immediate access for any Nigerian outside to have access to the Foreign Ministry and the embassies, if they need help or they have complaints to make. So, there will be a Foreign Ministry that will be apt and at the fingertips of every Nigerian all over the world.
