President Bola Tinubu’s latest ambassadorial postings underline a familiar pattern in Nigerian diplomacy: politically trusted, non-career appointees are securing some of the country’s most strategic foreign missions, including Washington and Paris.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the deployment of a new set of ambassador-designates, posting Kayode Are, former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), as Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States.
The posting, disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, places a non-career diplomat in Nigeria’s most important bilateral mission, covering security cooperation, trade, investment flows, and engagement with the Nigerian diaspora.
In the same announcement, Ayodele Oke was named ambassador-designate to France, another high-value posting given France’s diplomatic weight in Europe and Africa, particularly in West and Central Africa.
Also confirmed were Aminu Dalhatu as high commissioner-designate to the United Kingdom, and Usman Dakingari as ambassador-designate to Turkey. Tinubu is scheduled to visit Turkey on a state trip next week, underscoring the timing and strategic importance of the Ankara posting.
“In a memo to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Tinubu urged the ministry to notify the governments of the four countries about the ambassador-designates, in accordance with diplomatic procedures,” the presidency said.
A Pattern Reasserted: Prime Missions for Political Appointees
Are, Oke, and Dalhatu were confirmed by the Senate last month as non-career ambassadors, following screening by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs chaired by Sani Bello, who said the nominees were found suitable for diplomatic assignments.
Their deployment reinforces a long-established practice in Nigeria’s foreign service: while career diplomats dominate numerically, the most influential capitals—Washington, Paris, London—are often reserved for politically trusted envoys rather than lifelong foreign service officers.
This approach has precedent across successive administrations and reflects the presidency’s preference to place sensitive relationships in the hands of individuals with direct political access, security backgrounds, or personal loyalty.
Filling a Long Diplomatic Vacuum
The postings follow nearly two years during which many Nigerian missions abroad operated without substantive ambassadors, a gap that weakened Nigeria’s diplomatic presence and slowed engagement on trade, security, and multilateral negotiations.
In November, Tinubu sent an initial list of ambassadorial nominees to the Senate. A second batch followed in December, bringing the total number of confirmed nominees to 67.
Of these:
34 are career ambassadors
33 are non-career ambassadors
Among the nominees confirmed were several high-profile political figures, including Reno Omokri, Mahmood Yakubu, Femi Fani-Kayode, and Fatima Florence Ajimobi.
Onanuga said the postings would prioritise countries with which Nigeria maintains “excellent and strategic bilateral relations,” including China, India, Canada, Gulf states, and key multilateral missions such as the United Nations and the African Union.
Why the US and France Matter Most
Posting a former intelligence chief to Washington signals Tinubu’s emphasis on security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and strategic trust in Nigeria-US relations, at a time of heightened concerns around terrorism, cybercrime, and regional instability.
France, meanwhile, remains a central diplomatic node for African affairs, defence policy in the Sahel, and European Union engagement—making the Paris mission one of Nigeria’s most politically sensitive embassies.
For Nigeria’s career diplomats, the message is familiar. For the presidency, the calculation is clear: the country’s most consequential relationships are being handled by envoys who combine diplomatic authority with presidential confidence.
