It was funny as the Senate, on Tuesday, began the screening of the 47 ambassadorial nominees recommended by President Muhammadu Buhari for consideration and confirmation.
THEWILL gathered that two would-be ambassadors, Vivian Okeke from Anambra State and Ibrahim Isa from Niger State failed to recite the national anthem and the pledge properly before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs which is charged with the responsibility of screening the nominees.
Monsurat Sunmonu, the chairman of the committee, had asked Okeke to recite the National Anthem but she muddled it up while Isa was asked to recite the pledge and he muddled it up as well.
A nominee did not know the capital of Lagos State as she insisted that the capital of Lagos is Lagos instead of Ikeja. The nominee was asked to list 12 states and their capitals and listed Lagos State capital as Lagos.
Another nominee, Baba Garba, from Kano State, also fumbled when he was asked to recite the pledge to the disdain of the lawmakers.
Even when a committee member, Senator James Manager, gave the nominees a window of escape, the nominee could still not recite the Pledge.
Some of the committee members expressed embarrassment that career diplomats could not recite the country’s National Anthem as one of them was heard saying: “What we saw today shows the quality of those we are sending to represent the country in other countries.”
The President had sent the names of 47 career diplomats to the Senate for confirmation as ambassadors with the exclusion of some states from the pool of nominees which led to a controversy, but the government explained that some states were excluded because they did not have qualified candidates.
The committee will submit its report to the Senate in plenary for final approval before the list will be sent back to the President.
.thewill