Will Sonala’s article published by The PUNCH change anything? Will it cause those who made the earlier decisions to withdraw and do things differently? The answer is left for Nigerians to see. But should Nigerians watch as another voice of conscience is silenced? Certainly Not! There is a lot that can be done to send a very strong message out there and encourage accountability and transparency.
The 15 March piece by the syndicated writer, Sonala Olumhense, in which he carried out an analysis of Nigeria’s designated permanent representation at the United Nations was very interesting. Permanent Representative is simply another title reserved for ambassadors of nation-states to some international organisations. Ambassador, simplicita, was deemed not enough as a title of some representational posts.
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The Ambassadors sent to countries that are under an illusion of having wealth in common but as former British vassals/colonies (until recently when countries like Cameroon and Rwanda joined), are referred to as High Commissioners. Their offices are said to be Commissions. There may be additional reasons why the British chose and sold its former colonies such a lie that they have a commonwealth to protect, and hence common interests. I have, so far, not bothered to dig deeper into this Abracadabra.
Sonala, a writer dear to my heart for being courageous, and fearlessly blunt, has raised important issues about Nigeria’s Permanent Representative-designate to the UN, Jimoh Ibrahim. His now widely circulated concerns have since resulted in the announcement that he is being sued for ₦50 billion for defaming Nigeria’s UN Ambassador-designate.
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Some of the issues his piece raised are possibly the same concerns that many Nigerians have in terms of the track records or trajectories of many of the announced diplomatic representatives/ambassadors. The major difference was that Sonala, unlike many, summoned the courage and confidence to put such to the public in seeking accountability.
So, really, my dear brother Sonala, might have demanded too much in expecting that the President of Nigeria should bother about probity and track records in selecting the Ambassadors representing Nigeria, when the country is held by the jugular by entities dubbed political parties that are really nothing but shifting alliances of thieves?
After reading about the ₦50 billion defamation suit, I called Sonala up and left a message for him to the effect that I would like to help drive a ‘Go-Fund-Me’ effort to raise the funds necessary for his court case. People like Sonala should not be deserted in times like this. His critical voice for truth should not be silenced, as the rest of us fold our hands and watch, as though it is the case of a man having to pay for his sins. Sonala has put forth his life as a sacrificial lamb for all. His action was for Nigeria’s image at the United Nations.
Late Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) would have used his own resources to show up in court on this case. Unfortunately, he has been long dead, and Nigeria dearly misses him. Nonetheless, there are many Nigerians who are appalled by the country’s continued descent into immoral and value-bereft interactions at the international level, who will eagerly join Sonala in doing what the Nigerian Senate failed to do. That is, properly screen and interrogate the character and trajectory of those who are going out to represent Nigeria in the world at large. With the failure at the Senate, Nigerians would have the opportunity to learn more before the judiciary. Before the open courts, it will be harder, if not impossible, to play the “off the mic” game.
There are a few determinants of a nation’s foreign policy. The psychological profiles of the personalities in power, the international system as it shapes the wiggle-room available to states, especially weak states, as currently being seen in the geopolitical realities of the current international system. However, a major determinant of a nation’s foreign policy is its domestic realities and politics. This could involve many factors like the nation’s bureaucratic arrangement, and lack of it, or more importantly, the structure of internal power arrangements on the aggregation and articulation of interests. This is a very critical component that Nigerians need to look at carefully. Nigerians tend to undermine or downplay the importance of many domestic wrongdoings. Today, unlike many years ago, Nigerians are now cheerfully accepting abnormalities as norms. Nigerians do not think about the fact that all adds up to how everyone is assessed at the international level.
As the country’s green, blue and, more so, the red passports are presented, there’s already a negative assessment that requires a lot to change. Even great Nigerians who have contributed to the world like Wole Soyinka, do not escape this unfortunate profiling. I was once invited by the Foreign Minister of an European country, only for the Chief of Security to ask that an African from a different country be sought. At the third insistence that I should be invited, the compromise became that the Ambassador who had nominated my participation at a major conference must enter a bond that he would personally deliver me back into a flight out of the country.
I would like to use this opportunity to call for the support of various kinds for Sonala. A Go-Fund-Me in his support on his announced legal case is very expedient, given the very expensive nature of litigation in Nigeria. He should also enjoy possible legal support on pro-bono basis.
With leadership deficit taken as a given in Nigeria, the primacy of corruption in the exercise of power in Nigeria is not in doubt. Even if one ignores the constant barrages on the sordid grabbing of the national patrimony, as reported on the social and traditional media, there are scholarly works that support the international corruption perception index that places Denmark, Finland, Singapore, on the first, second, and third positions respectively, as Nigeria finds its level at 140th, out of 180 countries. Of course, Nigeria’s degradation in values make many of its citizens defensive in quipping: “which country is not corrupt?” However, to be “fantastically corrupt” is to accept that some are corrupt to a limited comparative extent. The more corrupt a country is, the less the presence of the rule of law in such a country and the lower the level of development.
So, really, my dear brother Sonala, might have demanded too much in expecting that the President of Nigeria should bother about probity and track records in selecting the Ambassadors representing Nigeria, when the country is held by the jugular by entities dubbed political parties that are really nothing but shifting alliances of thieves?
Will Sonala’s article published by The PUNCH change anything? Will it cause those who made the earlier decisions to withdraw and do things differently? The answer is left for Nigerians to see. But should Nigerians watch as another voice of conscience is silenced? Certainly Not! There is a lot that can be done to send a very strong message out there and encourage accountability and transparency.
I would like to use this opportunity to call for the support of various kinds for Sonala. A Go-Fund-Me in his support on his announced legal case is very expedient, given the very expensive nature of litigation in Nigeria. He should also enjoy possible legal support on pro-bono basis.
Babafemi A. Badejo, the author of several books, including a best seller on politics in Kenya as well as why peace has been elusive in Somalia, was a former deputy special representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia, and a former professor of Political Science and International Relations at Chrisland University, Abeokuta. He is currently chairman of the national NBA Anti-Corruption Committee and a consultant at Yintab Strategy Consults. He is the recipient of the 2025 Nelson Mandela Distinguished Africanist Award of the Africa Annual Conference at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. He was decorated with Djibouti’s 27 Juin 1977, Order.
