Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), has called on the federal government to review Nigeria’s foreign policy to bring it at par with modern diplomatic realities.
Abubakar also urged Nigerians to work towards peaceful national co-existence.
General Abubakar, who was chairman on the occasion of the maiden annual lecture of the Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria, ARCAN, urged the retired diplomats to sustain the momentum as the need arose on critical national issues, especially those of foreign policy.
The former head of state, who is also the Chairman of National Peace Committee, said with accumulated experience and expertise of ARCAN, such intervention had become more imperative in the contemporary age of uncertainty and growing intolerance in international relationship.
“I call on Nigerians to ensure that there is peace in the country because without peace, there wouldn’t be any ARCAN and without peace, there wouldn’t be progress,” Abubakar said.
According to him, the lecture is timely, considering the current times of uncertainty in global affairs.
Also speaking at the event, Ambassador Oladapo Fafowora, President of the Association, said the decline in the quality of Nigeria’s foreign service and foreign policy made the lecture necessary in order to reset them and make them more effective.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, was also in attendance.
