21/03/2024 by Dr. Engr Odo Ijere
The ban on foreign travels by President Tinubu on Ministers and other senior government officials if true may be one of few positive signs of a departure from the usual ways of doing business at the seat of presidential power. It will also be seen as a positive body language that things may be fast changing while perception at the seat of power may also be twitching towards a new mindset of what may be referenced as a new dawn of a listening presidency.
We may also be experiencing a tendency towards the Peter Obi school of thought as the gravitas of governance principles that increasingly adopts more of Obi's frugal models in managing a hugely contracting economy that is heading towards the rocks.
Stopping foreign travels by senior government officials may become the ultimate life saver for this beleaguered economy and which may generally save this country as much as 30% of foreign exchange administrative losses to frivolity and unproductive economic ventures. Enormous pressure will also be lifted from the badly depleted exchange rate as it fights other major currencies for survival. Naira floatation may not be a death sentence aftetall.
The policy will also stymie corruption and scams being perpetrated at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs which only business today is shopping and networking senior government officials around the MDAs, government agencies etal with global next conferences and next summit destinations just for purposes of hustling for brisk business opportunities to scramble for their own share of the dollars. This ignoble ways and means of the Foreign Affairs Ministry has become an institutional scam being perpetuated with much relish and at times much panache and which evidently is an avenue to corruptly enrich a few.
I had highlighted these incidences of corruption at the Foreign Affairs Ministry a few weeks ago in one of my earlier pieces where I lamented against President Tinubu's last overseas tourism to UAE as very unnecessary and avoidable doubling down against our global image as a nation. We cannot be parading cap in hand touring other nations and begging for investors when the investors are expected to come calling once there exists opportunities for them to make returns on their investments.
I had raised a red flag to Tinubu and his handlers to muster the courage to abrogate the last foreign trip to UAE because of the underpinning negative diplomatic signals emanating from the UAE over purported unavailability of their government officials to receive and host the President's entourage against the backdrop also that Nigeria and Tinubu had earlier featured so glamorously in the same UAE during the climate change summits some three or four months before.
My cries to save the nation's already battered image from further embarrassments went unheeded as the Foreign Affairs Ministry went about their usual businesses of booking and enlisting more tourists to accompany the President, almost doubling the numbers requested by the President for the trip to the utter dismay of Mr President himself.
We also all are witnesses to the diplomatic fumbling by staff of the Foreign Affairs who embarrassingly placed the President's children before Ministers and other senior government officials in the order of protocols again to everyone's chagrin and shame. That was among the lowest of the lows we've observed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs infested and reeking with stinking corruption and which needs urgent deodorization.
The litany of malfeasance and dirty deals that constitute everyday business transactions at the Foreign Affairs includes ticket racketeering, estacodes racketeering, visa racketeering, staff posting racketeering, investors racketeering among so many other rackets to earn dubious US dollars. Most of the foreign travel itineraries for Ministries, MDAs and government agencies are originated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is no more clear which position among the top five of Nigeria corruption index to rank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The President should follow up the ban on foreign travels of senior government officials with a total overhaul and reforms at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The corruption there stinks to high heavens. As I said before, the Ministry accounts for 30% of our foreign exchange leakages and therefore should face the same probe as was done at the CBN. Such probe will help the Tinubu presidency to bring more checks and balances to bear on their activities to protect and shore up our ailing economy.
When we're seen advocating for a total overhaul of the governance templates with a view to cutting down on our big governments expenditure, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately be put on the unbundling list to clean up some of its mess. Again when you hear that OBJ and Buhari were candidates of Guinness Book of records as the most traveled Presidents in global history, it's all being set up by the recklessness at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for intentional pecuniary gains and corruption of a few cartel members spearheaded by the Minister and Permanent Secretary.
This unwholesome trade must be brought to an end by this administration.
The Tinubu presidency should do everything to avoid plying those ignoble and profligate routes that made Buhari and OBJ very notorious among the world leaders. We all have a duty to save this country from total ruins.
Tinubu must begin to display his real ethos as a product of National Democratic Coalition, NADECO. He has a duty to work towards the economic liberation of this chained country.
Dr. Engr Odo Ijere
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