AS part of its cost-cutting measures, the Federal Government has disclosed of its readiness to reduce the number of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions which is currently put at 110.
A senior government official stated this on Wednesday on the sidelines of the submission of the report of the Presidential Committee on Number and Strategy for Resourcing Nigeria’s Diplomatic Missions Worldwide headed by a retired Federal Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibi.
At the event, Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha assured of government’s readiness to implement the report of the committee in order to address some of the challenges confronting the nation’s diplomatic missions to ensure their effectiveness and sustainability.
The Committee which was established in October last year was given a 3-month timeline and had the following as part of its Terms of Reference: to determine the current number, categories of Nigeria’s Diplomatic Missions; subject matter desks worldwide and categorize their strategic importance and impact worldwide and make appropriate recommendations; Identify and categorize the revenue generation capacity of missions, performance in this regard, causes and level of indebtedness.
It also included reviewing the understanding and application of critical extant policies, guidelines, circulars, codes, regulations, financial management systems, statutes, etc, across Nigeria’s Missions with a view to minimizing bottlenecks, misapplication and infractions.
Mustapha said; “I am confident that with the calibre of membership of the Committee, your observations, findings and recommendations will address some of the major challenges confronting the Diplomatic Missions around the world. I can assure you that this report will be forwarded to Mr. President for his endorsement and subsequent implementation.
“I understand that you held not less than 32 plenary meetings, had interactions with about 18 relevant stakeholders, administered questionnaires to all the Nigeria’s diplomatic Missions worldwide, reviewed some relevant previous reports including Federal Executive Council memoranda, undertook on the spot assessment visits to some selected 21 diplomatic Missions across Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, Middle East and North America, including Canada, in order to come up with this comprehensive report which contains 115 recommendations.
“I can also assure you that this report will also form part of the Transition document that will be handed over to the next administration as part of the successes of this present administration. So, this government will ensure that the content of this report is implemented in earnest”, he added
Earlier, Uhomoibi said the report was in two volumes, comprising the main report and a set of 14 annexures – a product of the Committee’s consciousness of the sincere desire and elaborate programme of Goverment for the revitalization of our country’s international representation.
