Isaiah Davies Ijele, convener of the Coalition for Good Governance, has raised concerns about the recent ambassadorial nominations, questioning the selection of certain individuals while advocating for youth representation and integrity at Nigeria’s diplomatic posts.
Speaking In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Saturday, Ijele argued that appointments should reflect character, professionalism, and the capacity to project Nigeria positively abroad.
“That list, there are some names on that list that ought not to be even mentioned anywhere around our diplomatic circle. They cannot represent me.”
He expressed concern over nominees with controversial histories, “It is not somebody who calls you drug baron. It is not the person who calls the evils murderers, drug dealers, and evil. It is not somebody that has profiled the whole race in the country.”
Highlighting the importance of youth involvement, he said, “We need young blood. We need people, youth of intellectual capacity to represent us with integrity on the international space. That is what we want as youth of this country.”
Ijele also praised career diplomats, emphasising their professional competence. “There are some names there that I know that are career diplomats, They will be able to do their job and put Nigeria on the line.”
Criticising politically motivated appointments, he said, “Abbas just finished as a governor, His name is Hondelis. This man was the former CNS. This man was the former ambassador to Ghana, They are not career diplomats, and not even people with integrity that can represent us.”
Ijele linked the urgency of ambassadorial appointments to Nigeria’s current security challenges, noting that international scrutiny has intensified. “Donald Trump has awakened the spirit of politicians in Nigeria to realise that, look, you have somebody that can hold you accountable, One of the problems we have as a nation is because the politicians deal with all of us and mess us around.”
He concluded by urging the government to take public opinion seriously, improve representation, and empower career diplomats and youth to shape Nigeria’s diplomatic future. “You cannot pull the people who have no part in the future to negotiate it for us, Let we, the youth, negotiate our future because it is belonging to us.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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