Ambassadorial Nominees: Let The Disgrace Continue

By Valentine Obienyem

“Mediocrity has become national policy”

The ambassadorial nominees I read this evening (Saturday evening) have once again exposed how utterly disgraced our country has become. Nigeria is a nation sick unto death – gasping for life – yet its leaders show no interest whatsoever in resuscitating her.

By appointing this calibre of men, we are telling Nigerians that virtue no longer matters. We are openly declaring that integrity, merit, and moral standing have no place in public service. We are saying, without shame, that the country may sink further, as long as political bargains are honored and personal loyalties are rewarded.

Some have praised these nominees as if their selection  would particularly favour them. If truly capable and qualified individuals were nominated, would it disproportionately benefit certain people? This is nothing but incestuous reasoning.

It is, in fact, true that a nation’s representatives reflect its moral condition. A country cannot heal when its leadership glorifies mediocrity and discards character. Nigeria cannot rise when those chosen to represent her abroad are themselves emblematic of everything that has weakened her at home.

Which names did you see? As I read Reno, Fani-Kayode, Yakubu Mahmoud, and others, I had to scratch my head in disbelief. I felt like an uninitiated reader opening Maimonides’ “Guide for the Perplexed”  and ended up getting more perplexed than guidance. At this rate, he might as well have nominated some of the criminals he recently pardoned, or figures like MC Olumo and Asari Dokubo, to complete the spectacle.

As for Reno, I am genuinely curious about the country to which he will be posted. All I ask from Nigerians is help in identifying the official social media platforms of that country’s President and Minister of External Affairs. From time to time, we shall forward to them Reno’s own description of our President during the elections – so they can grasp the calibre of envoy they are receiving and the President that sent him. Nonsense!

Meanwhile, let the disgrace continue.

Obienyem, a Lawyer, writes from Awka, Anambra State.