ADC slams Tinubu over US travel advisory

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said that the US travel advisory, citing Nigeria’s rising insecurity and failing healthcare infrastructure, is a damning reflection of the Tinubu government’s inability to protect both its citizens and the country’s image abroad. 

 ADC again criticised the absence of Nigerian ambassadors in key global capitals, particularly Washington D.C., describing the diplomatic vacuum as an abdication of responsibility. 

 The party also took aim at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accusing it of trivialising the urgent need for ambassadorial appointments under the guise of reforms. According to the ADC, Tinubu’s government has reduced diplomacy to a “side hustle,” warning that no country can afford to be voiceless on the world stage. 

The statement read: “Again, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is alarmed, but sadly, not surprised, by the latest travel advisory from the United States Government, which now classifies Nigeria as a Level 3 ‘Reconsider Travel’ destination. This is yet another public indictment of the Tinubu administration's failure to govern for a nation of more than 200 million people. 

The collapse of Nigeria's healthcare and infrastructure, as well as our government's inability to guarantee even the most fundamental emergency services, were explicitly mentioned by the United States. “Medical facilities in Nigeria typically do not meet American standards, and "many medications are unavailable," according to the advisory. Before arriving, foreigners are being advised to consider purchasing evacuation insurance. 

We ask: What kind of country are we becoming? One where a visitor must plan for an emergency airlift before stepping off the plane? “What makes this situation even more shameful is that Nigeria currently has no accredited ambassador in Washington D.C., the very capital from which this damaging advisory was issued. 

Within the past few days, the ADC had raised the alarm regarding this perilous diplomatic vacuum. Following this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs treated us with smug indifference and bureaucratic deflection. 

They made the absurd claim that some reforms were to blame for the failure, despite reports from the same Ministry earlier this year that the list of ambassadorial nominees had already been sent to the President for approval. Which is it, then? “Thanks to the Tinubu administration, Nigeria is voiceless at the world's most important tables at a time when our image is under attack and foreign confidence in our systems is falling. Not even during the civil war did Nigeria have ambassadors in place for so long.

 “It is equally important to note that since our ambassadors were recalled in October 2023, five of the G7 countries have changed their leaders. Yet, Nigeria has had no high-level diplomat in place to engage their new administrations to secure our interests in their foreign and investment agendas. This has not just been a missed opportunity; it has been an outright diplomatic failure. 

 “In its diplomatic appointments, the administration claims that it wants to guarantee "merit, competence, and integrity." But this excuse rings hollow coming from a government whose appointment history reveals anything but merit. If this administration truly believes in competence, then let it prove it by doing the work, not delivering platitudes. 

Reforms are not used as an excuse by serious governments to stop governing. Let's remind the government that the accreditation of ambassadors by receiving nations may be time-consuming and cumbersome. It is therefore difficult to see how this administration intends to remedy this embarrassing situation in the short time it has left. 

 “This is what happens when a government treats diplomacy as a side hustle. Where we ought to be there, we are absent. We are silent where we should be persuasive. We seem to be leaderless at home and invisible abroad. 

 "In this regard, the ADC reiterates its calls on the Tinubu administration to stop making excuses and demonstrate that they comprehend what it takes to govern a country like Nigeria,"