It’s now clear that President Joe Biden of the United States, US, will not send his Secretary of State, his top diplomat, to the swearing in ceremony of Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is billed to become president and Commander-in-Chief on May 29.
Tinubu will succeed the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari who steps down in a few days after eight years in office.
The former Lagos state government who won the Presidential Election on February 25 is expected to become Nigeria’s 16th President, but the social media in the country has been abuzz with worries among not a few Nigerians that the US President has yet to personally congratulate him in line with international diplomacy.
The worry has even become more aggravated now that the President of the most powerful country in the world has chosen not to send his Secretary of State, to represent him at the occasion.
According to a statement released on Monday by the White House, President Biden said Marcia L. Fudge, Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, will lead the delegation to the swearing in.
The statement said, “President Biden Announces Presidential Delegation to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, 2023, in Abuja, Nigeria.
“The Honorable Marcia L. Fudge, Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, will lead the delegation.
“Members of the Presidential Delegation:
“Mr. David Greene, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Embassy Abuja.
“The Honorable Sydney Kamlager-Dove, United States Representative (D), California.
“The Honorable Marisa Lago, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce.
“General Michael E. Langley, Commander of U.S. Africa Command.
“The Honorable Enoh T. Ebong, Director, U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
“The Honorable Mary Catherine Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
“The Honorable Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council.
“The Honorable Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.”
Following the White House statement, not a few Nigerians have been wandering why the US president chose to send ‘low power’ delegation led by Fudge when he could have sent Blinken,the US top diplomat to Nigeria.”
Two things must have been responsible for Biden’s decision, it is strongly speculated.
The US President may have decided not to confer status on the election of Tinubu, due to some complaints among Nigerians that the election was not transparent, fair and credibi9.
Secondly, the US Government is also waiting for the Court’s final decision on the issue before it charts the kind of diplomatic course with the incoming administration,” Dayo James, a public analyst told the magazine on Tuesday.
Tinubu’s highest interaction with any top US diplomat so far since he won the election four months ago, has been from Blinken who called the President-elect last week, while he was in France.
Not a few insist that the US is only playing a cautious diplomacy with Nigeria at the moment until the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal finally decides who won the election.
