The Federal Government has inaugurated the Presidential Committee on the Review of Numbers and Strategy for Resourcing Nigeria’s Diplomatic Missions Worldwide.
Among many things, the committee has a responsibility to “drastically reduce cost of running Nigeria’s Foreign Missions” and document all assets of Nigeria’s Foreign Missions.
Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja on Tuesday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha said Nigeria’s diplomatic missions overseas are faced with multifaceted challenges including “perennial indebtedness” which pose “attendant damage to our nation’s integrity”.
“Therefore, the establishment and deliberate composition of this Presidential Committee will enable President (Muhammadu Buhari) tackle the root cause of the critical state of affairs of our Diplomatic Missions in particular and its impact on the image of Nigeria on the international arena in general.
“The timeline for the activities of this Committee is three (3) months and its Terms of Reference are as follows,” Mustapha said.
The committee chaired by Ambassador Martin Uhomoibi, has its vice chairman as Alhaji Sabiu Zakari.
The committee has been tasked with the following:
“Identify and categorize the revenue generation capacity of missions, performance in this regard, causes and level of indebtedness;
“Review factors promoting or hindering inter-Agency collaboration, cohesion and effective service delivery at Nigeria’s Mission and desks and make appropriate recommendation;
“Review Human Resources Management Systems and practices in Nigeria’s Foreign Service and make appropriate recommendations on how to improve it in a sustainable manner;
“Identify cost cutting measures and all other steps that need to be taken to drastically reduce cost of running Nigeria’s Foreign Missions;
“Review all assets of Nigeria’s Foreign Missions with a view to document and assess their viability as well as give recommendations for sustainability;
“Review any other matter and make any other recommendation(s) that would be beneficial to Foreign Service of Nigeria in a sustainable manner.”