Tinubu’s foreign trips may miss maximum benefits without ambassadors, Inside Sources guest warns

Former Nigerian High Commissioner to Australia, Ambassador Ayo Olukanni, has advised President Bola Tinubu to strengthen Nigeria’s diplomatic presence abroad if the country truly intends to attract and sustain foreign investment. Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, Olukanni — who also served as Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of […]

Former Nigerian High Commissioner to Australia, Ambassador Ayo Olukanni, has advised President Bola Tinubu to strengthen Nigeria’s diplomatic presence abroad if the country truly intends to attract and sustain foreign investment.

Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, Olukanni — who also served as Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) — stressed that ambassadors play a pivotal role in ensuring that presidential commitments translate into tangible economic partnerships.

According to him, the personal influence and authority of ambassadors often make the difference between mere signed agreements and real investment inflows.

“I’ll give a practical example, because like you say, it is always good to concretize the abstractions,” Olukanni began, recalling his tenure in Australia between 2011 and 2015.

He cited former President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2011. Rather than limiting Jonathan’s trip to the summit, Olukanni said he successfully lobbied Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to schedule an official visit — which opened doors for high-level bilateral talks.

“Simply because I was the Nigerian ambassador and high commissioner to Australia… I was able to discuss with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that, look, it is good for us to have something for President Jonathan… and they accepted, simply because of the ranking. It is important,” he explained.

During that visit, President Jonathan held talks with then Prime Minister Julia Gillard and signed a bilateral agreement covering four key sectors: mining, agriculture, energy, and financial resources.

“Now, quite a long story short, at that event, separate from the CHOGM, we had an agreement between Nigeria and Australia in four areas… We signed that agreement, and it was a very successful one,” Olukanni said.

Beyond the signing ceremony, Olukanni emphasized that it was his role as High Commissioner that gave weight to follow-up negotiations with potential investors.

“My personal involvement as the High Commissioner of Nigeria to Australia was one of the things that helped to convince those who could address, really, the agreement we signed with Nigeria. It’s credible, it’s important, let us start implementing,” he stated.

The former envoy highlighted how his office was able to attract interest from Australian companies like Symbol Mining and Andalusian Mining, both of which came to Nigeria to explore opportunities in Oyo State and other parts of the country.

“So these are some of the functions which ambassadors will play, because of the status at the end of the day,” he said.

Olukanni’s remarks come at a time when Nigeria is making renewed pitches for foreign direct investment under President Tinubu’s economic reforms. His intervention underscores the importance of deploying capable envoys who can leverage diplomatic status and personal influence to turn presidential investment commitments into real economic partnerships