Foreign ministry redeploys 92 officials, sacks 344
The ministry of foreign affairs has redeployed to the office of Head of Service 92 senior civil servants not fit under its new vision.
Among the officers are 12 directors on grade level 17 and six deputies on level 16.
The ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmad, said the figure included officials affected by the recent merger of his ministry with that of Cooperation and Integration in Africa.
Baba-Ahmad, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said the ministry had earlier sacked 344 workers in the ongoing restructuring.
He said the redeployed officers had been given an option to retire from service.
Baba-Ahmad described the ongoing reform in the foreign service as ‘’very crucial’’ to the repositioning of Nigeria as a leader in the comity of nations.
NAN observes a significant improvement in facilities in the ministry with the lifts now working, while the power generating plant is now functional.
‘’The ministry is the first point of contact between Nigeria and the outside world and we must ensure an attractive first impression,’’ Baba-Ahmad said.
He said President Obasanjo has approved the recruitment of 80 skilled foreign service officers to meet the foreign affairs ministry’s manpower needs under the ongoing reform.
According to him, the officers, who would fill ‘’very critical’’ areas of the ministry, would be from grade levels 9 to 13.
Baba-Ahmad said the reform, which began six months ago, was aimed at placing Nigeria among the top 25 nations in the world by 2025.
Nigeria was focusing on a better image that would see the ministry working closely with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council and Nigerian Export Promotion Council to attract more foreign investment, he said.
Baba-Ahmad said another aspect of the reform was motivating the staff adequately to enable them address corruption and other ills in the foreign service.
As part of the reform, the permanent secretary said 24 ambassadors who had retired but were still heading foreign missions had been withdrawn, while 28 new ones had been posted.
Similarly, 18 consuls-general, the largest figure ever at a time, had been posted out, he said, noting that it was inexplicable to allow retired officers to continue to exercise official responsibility.
He said Obasanjo had also approved the ministry’s request to confer the title of ‘’Ambassadors in Situ’’ on its senior foreign service officers before retiring them.
‘’Our desire is to enable such people to retire with the feeling that they have at least attained the pinnacle of the profession,’’ he explained.
Baba-Ahmad said the reform entailed the relocation of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and the Nigerians in the Diaspora Organisation to the foreign affairs ministry.
‘’The idea is to improve our capacity for training and research by exploiting the enormous facilities of these institutions,’’ he said.
The permanent secretary expressed happiness that the posting of many foreign office personnel and the payment of the terminal benefits of retired officers had been done within the ministry’s budget.