There are indications that many of Nigeria’s foreign missions are facing difficult times, occasioned by their poor financial conditions.

The situation is said to be responsible for the Federal Government’s delays in deploying ambassadors and High Commissioners over two months after the Senate confirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nominees on December 18, 2025.

Before the announcement of the ambassadorial nominees by the president, there had been reports about the poor state of the nation’s consulates in many countries.

Some serving and retired career diplomats had also pointed out that Nigeria was not in the right financial position at the moment to revive the missions as many of the missions are non-functional.

The President had on January 23, 2026 announced the deployment of Ambassador Amin Dalhatu as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom; Ambassador Ayodele Oke as ambassador to France; and Kayode Are as ambassador to the United States, just three out of the 67 ambassadorial nominees cleared by the Senate.

BusinessDaySunday checks show that the delays in deploying the other ambassadors and High Commissioners to their various countries may be a pointer that the government lacks the needed resources to run those missions effectively

Many experts view the development as “unhealthy,” especially under the principles of “Reciprocity”, and urged the government to prioritise posting to some critical countries.

They have also called on the Consulates to explore avenues to be self-sustaining.

Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria’s foremost diplomat in an interview with BusinessDaySunday, said that “Foreign policy is not a luxury,” describing it as “the articulation of your values and national interests.”

According to him, “Nigeria is the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. Relationships radiate from there” he said.

He noted that a nation’s image begins to fall with the neglect of its foreign missions, especially if it “abandons the funding of embassies and appointing ambassadors.”

Gambari, who served as Nigeria’s minister of Foreign Affairs and the first United Nation’s Assistant Secretary General, while speaking on the delays in deploying confirmed ambassadors to their various countries, stated that “such appointments require acceptance by their host countries,” which according to him takes time.

“This is the kind of challenge you face when you take some harsh diplomatic decisions. The acceptance of your ambassadorial nominees may take up to six months to clear, before they can be formally announced,” he said.

He also revealed that apart from the time it takes, “there is no guarantee that the nominees you sent to a country will even be accepted by the host nation.

“It requires a minimum of six months to complete the correspondences, before an ambassador can present his or her letter of Credence to the President of that country.”

Gambari however, described Nigeria as “a lucky country”, because, according to him, “Under the principle of reciprocity, many other countries would have also withdrawn their ambassadors from the country.

“Many countries see Nigeria as a very important gateway into West Africa and as such prefer to deal with caution.”

A top source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Abuja, who confirmed Gambari’s position, also revealed that “the deployment of Ambassador Amin Dalhatu as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom is still hanging” as he is yet to be cleared by the United Kingdom government.

He disclosed that the Nigerian government was still lobbying the UK government for early clearance, ahead of President Tinubu’s visit in March, this year.

“We are still battling to accelerate the process, so that he can be cleared, just in time, for President Tinubu’s visit to the UK, in March.”

Our source lamented the frustration of the Ministry, over the delays in deployment of ambassadors and Heads of Foreign Mission abroad, even as he stated that “poor funding” has hindered activities in Nigerian missions abroad.

According to him, “There are so many things to be pushed out which we cannot push because Nigeria is yet to deploy substantive heads of our foreign missions.”

Our source also said that many of the agreements, bilateral commissions and other programmes lined up for implementation were hanging due to the delays in deploying the ambassadors.

“The presidents of these countries cannot be holding meetings with a level 10 officer from the Ministry. It is not possible.

“The President will only deal with you after you have submitted your letter of credence.

“Many of those agreements are on hold. The practice is that when you remove an ambassador, within 90 days you replace to avoid unnecessary vacuum,” he said.

He also expressed fears that many Nigerian ambassadors recently cleared may not resume their postings, under the current regime, because of the time frame, unless, something urgent happens.

“In any case, where is the money?” he asked rhetorically.

Abubakar Kari, a professor of Political Sociology at the University of Abuja, sees the President’s delays in deploying the ambassadors as an obvious sign that he is not keen on this aspect of foreign relations.

According to him, “Reports emanating from Nigerian Embassies and Missions abroad show that they have been starved of funds for close to three years.”

Kari said that Nigeria’s diplomatic history shows that the country had been very active in foreign relations, before the advent of this government.

“We are a leading African nation that should be able to avoid such lapses in our diplomatic activities,” he said.

The professor, who described the current situation as “Indefensible”, said that “It does not speak well to our quest for the top seat at the United Nations Security Council.”

He however, urged the President to urgently act to remedy the situation, adding that “He has a very good chance of coming back; he should just begin the process now, before the next year’s election.” (BusinessDay)

Update news