FG officials at war over foreign policy statements
There appears to be lack of coherence in federal government’s communication strategy on issues concerning Nigerian foreign policy statements. Recently, there were discordant tunes between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. Both issued inconsistent information on major issues affecting Nigerians in foreign countries.
This incoherence manifested in the handling of xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa and the conflicting advisory on trips to the United States of America by Nigerians. The inconsistency started when the presidential aide, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on February 7, 2017, announced that over 100 Nigerians had been killed in South Africa through extrajudicial means over the last two years.
Speaking when she met with the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Louis Mnguni in Abuja, Dabiri-Erewa said nearly seven in 10 of the killings were carried out by the South African police.
“The latest killing of a Nigerian in South Africa occurred in December 2016 when the Metropolitan Police in Cape Town suffocated Victor Nnadi, a native of Imo State, to death,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
She said though some Nigerians may commit offence and deserve to be punished in line with the law, the extrajudicial killings were worrisome.
Nigerians were also jolted by the inconsistency of the government’s statement on foreign issues when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the claims by the presidential aide, saying that no Nigerian was killed in the renewed xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hajiya Khadija AbbaIbrahim, during a meeting with the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, when the later was summoned to the ministry, condemned the report of the killing as “unsubstantiated.”
“The reports which mentioned the killing of Nigerians are unsubstantiated. The ministry has not received the report of any death of Nigerian in the latest incidents of attacks against foreigners.
“The Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria is in constant touch with the Nigerian Union in South Africa, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, DIRCO of South Africa, as well as the South African police. All these agencies have confirmed that no Nigerian’s life was lost in the recent incident,” the minister said.
Still on the same subject matter, On February 20, 2017, DabiriErewa also issued a statement calling for the intervention of the African Union to halt the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa. The presidential adviser said with the current spate of attacks, it seemed that the South African government had lost control of the situation.
Dabiri-Erewa’s statement came after renewed attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, where businesses, buildings and places of worship were reportedly set ablaze.
According to her, the AU’s intervention became imperative because information had it that there would be other xenophobic attacks against foreigners on February 22 and 23.
“These attacks should not be allowed to continue because it is a big setback,” she said.
Two days later, Nigerians got thrilled when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the African Union’s invitation by Dabiri-Erewa, saying the federal government had not invited anyone to intervene on its behalf. The minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, at a media briefing in Abuja, had said the ministry was the only institution responsible for articulating government’s foreign policy statements.
According to him, the Nigerian government was in constant touch with its South Africa counterpart on measures to protect Nigerians against xenophobic attacks in that country.
Another unfortunate scenario played out last week when the Nigerian government issued conflicting travel advisory to the United States.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement, urged Nigerians who had no compelling or urgent reason to travel to the US to postpone their trips until the new administration’s policy on immigration was clear. She said the warning became imperative because her office had received few cases of Nigerians with valid US entry visas denied entry into the country.
“In such cases reported to the office, such affected persons were sent back immediately on the next available flight and their visas were cancelled,” she said, noting that no reasons were given for the decision by the US immigration authorities.
The presidential aide said the statement “is only to advise Nigerians without any compelling or essential reasons to visit the US to consider rescheduling their trip until there is clarity on the new immigration policy.”
A day after, Nigerians were surprised when the minister of Foreign Affairs urged them to ignore the call to postpone their US trips, maintaining that no Nigerian with full valid entry visa was denied entry to the U.S, contrary to reports.
While briefing newsmen, Onyeama said Nigerians with US valid travel documents were free to embark on their trips as the country was not on the ban list.
The minister said he had reached out to the US Ambassador to Nigeria and the country’s high level officials who said nothing of such had happened.
“On the issue of Nigerians being turned back from the U.S, this is not the case. I can tell you to ignore any call or advice to reconsider travelling to the U.S because there is no basis for that.
“We have absolutely no report whatsoever from the U.S that people are being turned back,” he said.
He stressed that the most authentic sources of information on the issue of Nigeria’s foreign relations were the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Any other source is not from the government. Anything you hear in respect of the U.S is incorrect. So anyone that has valid document to go to the U.S or any other country should please proceed to do so,” he said.
Reacting to the issue, a foreign policy analyst, Omo-oba Abd Rasheed Adesokan, said the minister was the appropriate authority to articulate Nigeria’s foreign policy statement, noting that he has more classified information as the country’s chief diplomat.
Adesokan, however, commended Dabiri-Erewa for her efforts at repatriating stranded Nigerians from Libya, but cautioned the presidential aide against comments that are unacceptable in diplomatic circles.
“She is doing her best, but I think she is trying to exceed her business by saying that people should not travel to the US. No, there was no reason for that. But if there is anything like that, it should not come from her; it should come from the minister so as to present a unified front.
“As a presidential adviser, you can’t be saying something that is not acceptable in diplomatic circles or international relations between countries. Advising Nigerians to be wary of their trips to the US is like saying America is anti-Nigeria,” Adesokan said.
He urged the presidential aide to “stay at the shallow end of the swimming pool” as is said in international relations. This is because when there is any trouble in the water, you would just walk out. What she is doing is going to the deeper end of the swimming pool where she is not perfect at,” he added.
Meanwhile, civil society organisations have criticised Onyeama over his statement that no Nigerian was denied entry into the United States. The groups, United for True Change and the Nigerian Coalition for Quality Governance, in separate statements, urged the minister to work with relevant agencies to protect Nigerians abroad.
“This is a time for the government to work hand-inhand to protect our citizens, not for anybody to want to settle personal scores,” Ben Omonua, the secretary-general of United for True Change said.
The national coordinator, Nigerian Coalition for Quality Governance, Gbenga Omoniya, said, “Rather than engage in spurious denials that have no basis, we enjoin the minister of Foreign Affairs to collaborate with the relevant agencies of the federal government in making sure that Nigerians are treated with dignity and respect wherever they may be. Trump is putting America first, Onyeama should put Nigerians first.”