A foreign minister who does not read

“Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers” – Harry Truman. In an otherwise erudite and articulate interview published in The Guardian (June  23, 2017, Page 37) Nigeria’s foreign minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama capped his brilliant discourse with a pathetic anticlimax, when the correspondent asked him “the title of the book you are […]

“Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers” – Harry Truman.

In an otherwise erudite and articulate interview published in The Guardian (June  23, 2017, Page 37) Nigeria’s foreign minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama capped his brilliant discourse with a pathetic anticlimax, when the correspondent asked him “the title of the book you are currently reading”. Foreign minister Onyeama answered flatly, “honestly, I do not have time to read books at the moment and it is quite a long time since I had an opportunity to read because I am trying to get the Nigerian foreign policy situation right”.

Honestly, one do not actually know how the foreign minister would “get the Nigerian foreign policy situation, right”, without the benefit of the deep insight and uncommon understanding that can only issue from wide-ranging study and readings. And for the foreign minister to suggest that he does “not have time to read books”, means he treat reading of books and study as mere hobby and past time but this can only be far from the truth because study and reading books are integral to the job description of any senior or highly placed public official and this is even more fiercely true of a foreign minister of a regional power like Nigeria. The contemporary global order is fraught with shifts and uncertainties, and even to grasp the flow of events, one need to understand the context, from which it could be aligned to the fundamentals of foreign policy, with the consequence of generating options for actionable engagements. While any foreign minister would maintain a coterie of expert advisers and the total benefit of the bureaucracy, it is nonetheless of strategic importance that the chief foreign policy actor should maintain a considerable degree of intellectual alertness, guaranteed only through study and reading of books.

Notwithstanding the poor attitude of Onyeama to reading books, he has been much focused and his discourse in the interview, demonstrated a clear alignment of the foreign policy goals to the existential national imperatives of the current time. Mr. Onyeama is suave, urbane and has the personal carriage and charisma of a foreign minister that can hold his own, among his global peers, but must drop his cynical disdain for reading books and study. If he wish to function only as the mere head of bureaucracy, with only the routine of juggling files and memos, he may well do without books but if he intends to lead the Nigeria’s foreign policy charge, in a complicated global era of information over-drive, then reading books, both classical work of theories and the accumulated experiences of notable key global actors that could be gleamed for their memoirs must be his inseparable partner. Infact, to be a foreign minister, without relishing the recent histories of the games that Nations play, through the elaborate memoirs of numerous key actors in several world circuits, is to deprive oneself a drink from the fountain and spring of accumulated wisdom, which usually details both the intrigues, straight forward naivety and even the honesty of contemporary diplomacy.

From Onyeama’s discourse in the interview under reference, Nigeria’s foreign policy has made huge progress in aligning with the domestic national priorities, especially in the security sector, where there has been considerable synergy among the key countries in the Lake Chad basin.

Even engaging France, extra-regional power, which has leverage over its former Francophone Colonies in the Lake Chad basin was a fine diplomatic work that has succeeded in reasonably containing the Boko Haram insurgency. As the foreign minister noted, Nigeria has etched her footprint in the security architecture both at the regional and sub-regional levels, by both its role as permanent member of the Africa Union Security Council and being in charge of the commission for peace and security in the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS) 

On this account, the foreign minister rightly asserted that Nigeria engaged in these issues, with not only that “Our voice is very much heard”, but “we are driving a lot of the peace initiatives in South Sudan, Somalia and so forth”. Again, to drive the peace initiatives in such complex theatre as South Sudan and Somalia, the leader of our foreign policy engagement in these issues must seek knowledge and understand the key actors in these conflicts, their backgrounds, constraints and options in dealing with them.

A foreign policy leader thrown at these conflicts with self-mutating propensities cannot deny to himself the potential and potent compass to illuminating the haze which readings and study can only provide. In the case of South Sudan, the brilliant work of veteran United Nations, South Sudan’s hand the Norwegian-born Ms Hilde F. Johnson offers deep insight to the trajectories of the conflict and its principal actors. Her book, “South Sudan, untold story: From independence to civil war”, published in 2016, is a powerful tour de force to understanding the tragedy of Africa’s newest state.

Onyeama will actually have nothing to lose from reading books, rather it would further fortify his ebullient personality, embellish his candor and provide him a greater measure of self confidence in dealing with the complex issues of enhancing Nigeria’s global stature through effective diplomacy and bringing value to her national aggregates through efficient implementation of the country’s foreign policy objectives.

However, if Onyeama should reconsider seriously, reading, the following among many others, may be considered. The diplomatic memoirs of the legendary Henry Kissinger in two volumes – “Years of upheaval” and “Years of Renewal” stand distinguished as historical work on diplomacy. Also the memoir of the then world longest serving foreign minister, of the former USSR, Andrei Gromyko, simply titled “Memoirs”.

The work of the former Israel foreign minister Abba Eban, “The New diplomacy: International Affairs in a modern age”, a work of contemporary diplomacy, a work combining both the scholar and practitioner insight of contemporary diplomacy.

Former Chinese foreign minister, Tang Jiaxuan’s memoir, titled “Heavy storm and gentle Breeze”, an account of China’s diplomacy at an epochal moment of her economic reforms and modernization efforts

Other works containing deep insight to contemporary global order, especially in this age of uncertainty includes Henry Kissinger’s latest work published in 2014 with the title “World Order” and a brilliant work of Dr. Richard Hass with the title “A world in disarray.

The bimonthly U.S based journal, “foreign affairs”, though largely a scholarly mouth-speak of the liberal international order and its current travails, is a great eye opener to several critical and strategic spot of the work.

Last but not the least, the only memoir of a former Nigerian foreign minister the engaging and intellectually invigorating work of Joe Garba “Diplomatic Soldering, can lend some deep insight to the practice of Nigeria’s diplomacy at the time of the intense cold war.

Mr. Onunaiju, director, Centre for China Studies, CCS, Utako, Abuja.