President Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday in Abuja that his
administration will undertake a review of Nigerian foreign missions
to
determine those that are really essential.
Speaking after being
briefed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo, President Buhari said that a
Presidential Committee will soon be established to carry out the review.
The
President said that the review will determine the number of essential
missions Nigeria needs to maintain abroad so that appropriate standards
and quality can be maintained.
The President said that there was
no point in Nigeria operating missions all over the world “with
dilapidated facilities and demoralized staff” when the need for some of
the missions was questionable.
“Let’s keep only what we can
manage. We can’t afford much for now. There’s no point in pretending,”
President Buhari told Ambassador Lolo and other officials of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” a statement by Femi Adesina, special
adviser to the President said.
The President also called for the
record of former government officials and other persons still using
diplomatic and official passports illegally, saying that his
administration will take necessary action against them.
“Something
has to be done so that we can get back our respectability as a country.
Some people carry official passports and get involved in all sorts of
negative acts. We need to do something about it,” the President said.
Ambassador
Lolo told President Buhari that the challenges facing the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs included the absence of a Foreign Service Commission,
poor funding of foreign missions, policy inconsistencies and training
deficiencies, among others.
Source: PM News
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