‘A National Embarrassment’: Joe Keshi slams Tinubu’s ambassadorial picks

Nigeria’s former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joe Keshi, has delivered a blistering rebuke of President Bola Tinubu’s newly-submitted ambassadorial nominees, declaring that several of them “have no business in public office” and, in fact, “belong in prison.”

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Keshi said he was “deeply alarmed” by the calibre of nominees, especially those on the non-career list, warning that Nigeria’s global standing was being eroded by political patronage and the recycling of failed politicians.

“I’m comfortable with some names on the list,” he said, “but the truth is that the bulk of the non-career nominees is disturbing. Are these the kind of people we want to represent Nigeria? Some of them, if justice had prevailed, should be cooling their heels in prison, not being sent out as ambassadors.”

Keshi accused certain former governors on the list of “gross failure” in office, saying they had left their states worse than they met them, yet were now being rewarded politically.

“You have people who governed their states and were absolute failures. They showed no leadership, and their successors are still trying to fix the damage they did. These are the same people being rewarded simply because they helped destroy other political parties,” he said.

The veteran diplomat lamented the exclusion of career foreign service officers, many of whom, he said, are “hurt, demoralised and betrayed” after dedicating decades to building Nigeria’s diplomatic architecture.

He recalled that Nigeria’s first prime minister envisioned a foreign service built on competence, training and independence — values he said had been abandoned in favour of patronage.

“These officers have gone through rigorous preparation. At the point where they should be appointed, you now say they are not qualified to represent the country. It is unfair,” Keshi said.

He appealed directly to President Tinubu to correct the imbalance in subsequent nominations:

“I beg the President, for the sake of the officers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to ensure that the next list contains only career diplomats.”

Keshi also suggested a hidden conspiracy behind the removal of former NIA Director-General Ayo Oke, insisting that many retired diplomats remain “bitter” because the system has repeatedly undermined merit.