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Mr President,
The news that electricity supply to the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa has been disconnected due to non-payment of bills is not just embarrassing. It is a national disgrace.
That this humiliation is being announced publicly by a South African mayor on X (formerly Twitter) compounds the shame. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and supposed giant of the continent, is now being mocked on the global stage for failing to pay basic utility bills at its own diplomatic mission.
This incident does not stand alone. It is a direct consequence of a deeper, more dangerous failure of governance. For nearly three years, Nigeria has operated without appointed ambassadors. Our foreign missions are leaderless, neglected, and demoralised. Some embassy staff are owed salaries in months.
Experienced Nigerians have repeatedly warned your government about this diplomatic vacuum. Those warnings were ignored. They fell on deaf ears.
Diplomatic missions are not mere buildings; they are symbols of sovereignty, competence, and national pride. But your incompetence has now been exported.
When the lights go out at a Nigerian High Commission, it signals to the world that the Nigerian state itself is flickering, uncertain, unmanaged, and indifferent.
Mr President, this is shameful for several reasons:
It exposes gross administrative negligence.
An embassy that cannot pay its electricity bills reflects a system that has collapsed from the centre.
It endangers Nigerians abroad.
High Commissions exist to protect citizens, advance national interests, and command respect. A powerless mission commands none.
It ridicules Nigeria’s foreign policy.
How does a country seek leadership in Africa while failing at the most basic obligations of diplomacy? It confirms a troubling pattern under your administration: silence, denial, and inertia in the face of clear failure.
This is not about politics. It is about national dignity. The continued refusal or inability of your inept government to post ambassadors, rubber stamped by the equally docile and inept national assembly, properly fund missions, and respond to warnings has now produced a public scandal.
Tomorrow, it may be worse—locked offices, abandoned citizens, or diplomatic retaliation.
Mr President, Nigerians are tired of excuses. They are tired of avoidable embarrassments. They are tired of watching their country reduced to an object of ridicule. They are tired of you.
This issue demands immediate action, not damage control:
Post qualified ambassadors without further delay. Audit and settle all outstanding obligations of Nigerian missions abroad. Restore professionalism and accountability to Nigeria’s foreign service.
History will not judge kindly a government that allowed Nigeria’s flag to fly in darknes, literally and figuratively, across the world.
Nigeria deserves better.
Yours sincerely,
Lauretta Onochie
@Laurestar
A concerned Nigerian citizen
