Since February 2023, there has been a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The crisis escalated on April 16, 2023, leaving 1400 people injured and 500 dead; unfortunately, about 4000 Nigerian students were trapped in Sudan.
On April 26, 2023, the Federal government began evacuating these students to Egypt with 40 luxury buses worth ₦140 million. But as expected, this hasn’t gone smoothly, which has raised many questions on what precisely the responsibilities of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Onyeama, are.
We’re going to answer this question in this article.
Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister’s saddled with promoting Nigeria’s domestic ideas and vision, protecting its citizens and maintaining diplomatic relations. Some of his core duties are:
Implementation and development of foreign policies
The minister is responsible for developing foreign Laws, policies, and principles that safeguard the country’s national interest, sovereignty and security.
Review of diplomatic issues and affairs
The Minister of Foreign Affairs analyses strategic issues that involve international relations as well as the adoption of diplomatic policies and principles. He represents Nigeria at international meetings such as the African Union and the United Nations General Assembly. Also, he’s responsible for establishing and maintaining diplomatic relations with other countries.
Negotiates bilateral and multilateral treaties
Negotiating and handling international treaties while ensuring Nigeria’s interests are protected is a core function of the minister of foreign affairs. He’s also in charge of managing international judicial cooperation alongside foreign-related legal issues that involve the government.
Promotes Nigeria’s Economic Interests
The Minister of Foreign Affairs encourages foreign investments, partnerships and trade with other countries to boost the economy.
Oversees the formulation of policies related to land and sea boundaries
Another function of this minister is to formulate policies that concern land and maritime boundaries. He also handles boundary delimitation and demarcation issues and oversees diplomatic negotiations on maritime delimitation.
Consular protection
This means protecting Nigerians’ welfare, rights and interests in travelling or living overseas. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), currently headed by Abike Dabiri, is a parastatal under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs primarily used to ensure consular protection. Other functions of NIDCOM include:
- Coordinating all continental Nigeria Diaspora Organizations.
- Mobilising and harnessing the skills and resources of Nigerians in the diaspora for national development.
- Developing and executing programmes that will aid accelerated development.
- Building partnerships and networks that will safeguard the interests of Nigerians in the diaspora and drive development in Nigeria
However, on April 27, 2023, news of the evacuated Nigerian students being stranded in the desert hit the country. And this was due to the government’s failure to pay the drivers despite allegedly releasing $1.2 million for the evacuation. Clearly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NIDCOM still have a lot to improve on when it comes to protecting the interests of Nigerians in the diaspora.