Abubakar
Sadiq Muhammad, top diplomat speaks
‘I’m in love with Golden Eaglets’
The recent conquest of the Golden Eaglets in Conakry
where they humiliated their Guinean counterparts in front of their home fans
with a 4-0 margin win would never be completed without a slice of the
diplomatic support enjoyed by the team
Walter Bagehot, the Briton who reportedly wrote
extensively about literature, government, and economic affairs during his lifetime,
noted that ‘an ambassador is not simply an agent, he is also a spectacle.’ No
wonder, Mr. Abubakar Sadiq Muhammad, the Minister Plenipotentiary and Head of
Chancery at the Embassy of Nigeria in Guinea, practically fell in love with the
Nigeria’s budding superstars!
“It was a wonderful and heart-warming experience
having the Nigerian Under-17 team here in Guinea,” said Muhammad, a proud
alumnus of the University of Maiduguri. “I was really looking forward to meeting
the officials and the players and we are very happy about the fact that they
did our country proud.”
Diplomats are often accused of double speak but the sincerity of purpose in Muhammad’s voice was as clear as crystal as he
poured his out to the Nation Sport & Style at his expansive office inside the Embassy of
Nigeria in Conakry.
Said he: “I
want to put it on record that in a very long time, we are seeing young guys who
are putting smiles on the faces of all Nigerians and I’m very impressed.
“The performances of the Golden Eaglets so far have
been excellent and thanks to their officials and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
for putting this team together. I’m so impressed with the level of discipline
in this team.
“With what i have seen, this team would eventually
qualify for the African Under-17 Championship in Morocco and would also do well
if they can maintain the kind of discipline I have seen both on the pitch and
outside.”
He may be a diplomat but Muhammad actually knows his
football like the back of his hands and he actually revealed his family’s
obsession for the beautiful game of football.
“I played football too while growing up but as you
can see now, I didn’t take it as a profession,” stated the smart and
athletic-looking Muhammad.
“I knew the present national Under-17 coach, Manu Garba during my
undergraduate days at the University of Maiduguri-though he was my junior then.
Most of my colleagues with whom I played football in secondary school as well
as the university up to NUGA were also his classmates. So it was a kind of
reunion with Manu in Conakry. I have fond passion for football and the same
goes with my children who like football very much.
“You could see how my second son (Khalifa Sadiq) has
been all over the place with the Golden Eaglets and that should tell you
something about how much they love football. He is here in Conakry because of
the unfortunate Boko Haram incident in Maiduguri. His elder brother is back in
school in Maiduguri and they have been exchanging messages on Blackberry about
the activities of the Golden Eaglets.
“My first son (Mohammed Sadiq) is very passionate
about football and he has even told me that he want to go and try his luck with
the any of the junior national teams anytime he’s on holidays.”
Charity indeed begins at home for Muhammad, for
despite his privileged position in the Foreign Service, his soccer-mad children
are schooling back in Nigeria.
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| * SQUATING:Mr. AS Muhammad( in suit) with Golden Eaglets |
“I preferred my children to school in Nigeria for
obvious reasons. They just left the secondary schools and because they are
still in their formative ages, I wanted them to stay back home to imbibe our
culture.
“Secondly, I’m here in Guinea which is a Francophone
country and since they are not versed in French, it would be difficult for them
to cope with their studies here. Importantly, I don’t subscribe to the fact
that we must send our children abroad in order for them to be successful later
in life. I schooled in Nigeria and at the University of Maiduguri for that
matter which many does not regard as one of the best university in Nigeria. But
whatever I’m today, I owe it to the fact that I schooled in Nigeria and I don’t
see any reason why my children cannot
school in Nigeria .
“I don’t want my children to fall into wrong hands
by leaving on their own abroad; at this stage they need proper guidance
culturally and religion wise. After their first degree, they can go abroad for
their second degree if I can afford it,” explained Muhammad as he sheds more
light on bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Guinea Excerpts.
On challenges facing
Nigeria’s foreign mission
I don’t
think any Embassy of Nigeria anywhere would not be ready to assist Nigerians in
foreign lands. Sometimes, some of the challenges boil down to the exigencies of
the office as well as the number of staff strength and disposition of the
embassy at a particular time. Frankly,
no embassy would not want to extend courtesy to Nigerians thought it might not
be able to give 100 percent due to certain limitations.
On influx of
Nigerians in Guinea
There is an influx of Nigerians to Guinea at present
and some of them see the embassy as a place where they can come and get money
to proceed abroad! The challenges are always there including the attitudes of
Nigerians but generally, things are getting better. Though we have some Nigerians with consular
problems but by and large, they are behaving as expected of Nigerians.
On bilateral Relationship between the Nigeria and
Guinea
We have a very cordial relationship with Guinea.
President Alpha Conde of Guinea has been to Nigeria on two occasions- first for
ECOWAS meeting as well as for the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Works are going on for joint Nigeria-Guinea commission and plans are now at an
advanced stage for President Conde to visit Nigeria very soon. Both Nigeria and
Guinea have cooperated at the sub regional, continental and international levels
and this relationship can always be better.
On difference
between Ambassador and Charge D’ Affaires
The Ambassador is the representative of Mr.
President in a foreign country. He is the representative of the Nigerian
government and this is usually by an appointment. On the other hand, the Head
of Chancery is an official who takes the place of an ambassador but he is not
an ambassador because he’s not designated so! The relationship between an
Ambassador and Head of Chancery could be likening to that between a Minister
and a Permanent Secretary. In case there is no Ambassador as we have here in
Guinea now, there is Charge D’Affaires-somebody in charge of the embassy- who
acts as the senior representative of his or her country where there is no
ambassador.
On life in the Foreign
Service
I have been in the Foreign Service for about 25
years now. I have received several assignments and I have served in Libya. I’ve
had attachment in Malta, Sierra Leone at the beginning of my career. I’d worked
in Egypt too and here I’m at present in Guinea. Each of these countries has
their different challenges but I think the toughest was in Libya during their recent
political problem. You know we had a lot of Nigerians in Libya then and that
gave us some consular problems because we had to evacuate a lot of them. I think
we had about 50,000 Nigerians there in Libya...
Libya was not their final destination as almost all
of them wanted to travel to Europe. Most wanted to cross over to Europe and
that is why you see a lot of Nigerians ignorantly travelling to places like
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia thinking they can cross over to Italy, Spain without any problem. It is unfortunate that
some of them die along the way trying to cross even through the desert from
Niger. Again, many travel to Libya since
the uniting Africa was the centre piece of the late Muammar Gaddafi’s foreign
policy. It was difficult for him to send away some of these illegal immigrants
since he wanted to be seen as the custodian of African unity.
