By Olarinre Salako, Ph.D
In every nation, there comes a moment when a government reveals sometimes unintentionally how it truly perceives the state, its institutions, and its people.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominations, released after more than two years of anticipation, is one such moment.
What should have been a solemn exercise in national representation has instead resembled an elaborate reward ceremony for political devotion. And not devotion to Nigeria, but to the President himself.
This is not the first Nigerian administration to distribute embassies as political favours but it is perhaps the first to do so with such unabashed timing and numerical imbalance.
The Sycophant’s Dividend
One cannot help but observe the sudden diplomatic elevation of individuals whose primary qualification appears to be their recent displays of political loyalty.
The case of Reno Omokri is particularly illustrative: once one of the President’s loudest critics, he discovered a miraculous conversion on the road to political relevance much like a digital Saul becoming a Twitter Paul.
His reward? A diplomatic post.
Similarly, Femi Fani-Kayode, who has served in more political camps than Nigerians have had hours of steady electricity, has been invited back to the global stage. Never mind that his previous ministerial stints in Culture and Tourism, and later Aviation produced no measurable legacy beyond controversy. Never mind his once-fervent denunciations of the Muslim–Muslim ticket against Buhari, only to become its most passionate chorister once his Yoruba kinsman was involved.
Such ideological elasticity has finally found him a pension: an ambassadorial portfolio. Hallelujah!
In this new Nigeria, the diplomatic corps increasingly resembles a sanctuary for political weathercocks.
The Mahmood Yakubu Dilemma
Then comes the nomination of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, immediate past Chairman of INEC, whose tenure delivered the most litigated elections in Nigeria’s history. Is this an acknowledgment of Mahmood’s bureaucratic finesse?
If democracy is a trust, then its managers must behave as custodians, not first-line beneficiaries. Yet here we are, watching the referee of the last election join, with surprising speed after his tenure, the government that emerged from that very contest.
Is it legal?
Yes.
Is it ethical?
No.
Is it wise?
Most Nigerians would say not.
In a country where public confidence in elections is fragile, such a nomination feels like a handshake performed too close to the wound.
Arithmetic Without Federal Character
Yet perhaps the most troubling aspect of this ambassadorial drama lies in the geopolitical distribution of appointments. One would imagine that after such an extraordinary delay, the President would unveil a list sensitive to national balance.
Instead, we have a map that reads like a political reward chart:
• South West: 11
• South East: 6
• North Central: 5
• North East: 5
• North West: 5
• South South: 3
To be sure, a few of the South West nominees are career diplomats rather than politicians — but even that does not explain or excuse this first-class imbalance.
The South South where governors, state assemblies, and political leaders have defected en masse to the President’s APC for their political daily bread received the fewest first consideration for appointments.
One is left to wonder: is this a diplomatic mission list or a nepotic mission list?
If the intention was to reward sycophancy, then surely political defectors deserved more than three slots.
If the intention was national inclusion, then no zone deserves the indignity of being an afterthought.
Every Nigerian understands that no President is immune to political considerations. But when 11 appointments emerge from the President’s home zone while some states are left without a nominee, one must dare to ask: Is this a federation or a family estate of Tinubu?
A Government’s Mirror
Diplomatic appointments are not ceremonial decorations. They are the face of Nigeria to the world, and the world will judge us by the quality of those we send. Ambassadors negotiate trade, security, education, and global influence. They are not meant to be trophies for domestic political theatre.
In appointing sycophants, rehabilitating failed politicians, rewarding questionable arbiters of elections, and distributing posts in a manner that tilts precariously toward one corner of the country, the Tinubu government has told Nigerians more than it intended.
It has told us what it values.
It has told us who it listens to.
And perhaps most importantly, it has told us what it is willing to overlook.
Even if adjustments come later, the message is already clear: some zones matter less to you politically. The grotesquely inflated _initial consideration_ for the South West is indefensible.
A Nigeria Deserves Better
Nigeria is too complex, too wounded, and too hopeful a nation to be handled with such casual political arithmetic, and reckless neglect for optics.
If this administration wishes to rebuild national trust, it cannot continue to act as though public service is a compensation scheme and Nigeria a political marketplace.
Diplomacy must reflect merit.
Federal character must reflect equity.
Institutions must reflect integrity.
And leadership must reflect restraint.
A nation of 200 million deserves ambassadors chosen as symbols of its best across its diverse makeup not the loudest, not the closest, not the most politically useful.
Olarinre Salako, Ph.D., is an Oyo-born Nigerian American based in Texas, USA.