Reps, stakeholders support repositioning of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs

Director-General of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Eghosa Osaghae has called for the provision of special funds for research as part of ongoing efforts aimed at repositioning the Institute.

Professor Osaghae gave the charge in Abuja during the public hearing on the repeal and re-enactment of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, held at the instance of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs chaired by Hon. Yakub Buba.

The NIIA helmsman who decried the poor funding of the Institute frowned at the paltry sum of N46 million approved in the 2021 Appropriation Act for the Institute’s capital projects.

Professor Osaghae who called for a paradigm shift in the management and operations of the Institute in line with current realities maintained that the world had moved from where it used to be in the 1960s and is now being ruled by the internet, thereby leaving the institute behind.

He said that the NIIA was supposed to provide capacity for Nigeria and other African countries, to be able to effectively engage in the global community.

According to him, the Institute only had 78 members of staff, out of which only nine, including the Director-General, were researchers.

“We see that this bill will take the NIIA to the level where the world has not seen, to a level where our founding fathers will rejoice in heaven.

“This Committee said it is time for dry bones to rise again, not only rise again but surpass the bones it used to be,” he said.

On his part, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Jeffery Onyeama who commended the lawmakers for looking into the plight of the Institute through legislative intervention to reposition the agency, pledged support for the revitalisation of the Institute.

The Minister who was represented by the Director from the office of the Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Mobolaji Ogundero, affirmed that the Institute is an agency under the Ministry which offered great opportunities for the country.

In his remarks, Chairman, Association of Retired Career Ambassadors, Suleiman Dahiru also underscored the urgent need for the Institute to be restructured and entrench good management.

Ambassador Dahiru who observed that the NIIA used to be a centre of excellence, however, lamented that the Agency has deteriorated due to poor management.

While stressing that, “no law is perfect but the success is largely dependent on the management,” he urged the Institute should remain an agency under the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He also said that only the Ministry had the authority to direct the foreign policy of the country, adding making the Institute stand alone would not represent a good image of the country.

Speaking earlier, Hon. Yakub who observed that the Institute had single-handedly trained many Career Diplomats in foreign policy and diplomacy, underscored the need to given the Institute a new lease of life and upgrade it to a degree awarding Institution.

In his keynote address, the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila pledged the House support towards the repositioning of the institution.

Hon. Gbajabiamila who was represented by the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Peter Akpatason urged the stakeholders to come up with ideas that would help the parliament.

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