From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, has extolled the immediate past Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, for the excellent manner he handled the terrorism faced by the Buhari administration upon assumption of office in 2015. At a farewell dinner held in honour of Onyeama in Abuja by non career ambassadors, the immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, said Onyeama was a diplomat in an era of insecurity and he stood firm within the diplomatic circle to handle the insecurity properly both at home and abroad.
“And I will give you instances. You know the Multinational Joint Task Force its formation took off effectively when former President Buhari came into power in 2015. Before his arrival, so many things were done in terms of concept of operation. But it wasn’t operationalised until when President Muhammadu Buhari came on board and the Honourable Minister was subsequently appointed. And it was at that point we saw the reinvigoration of diplomatic moves in establishing and operationalising the Multinational Joint Task Force,” Buratai said.
Buratai further extolled Onyeama’s diplomatic role in the era of conflict, not only within Nigeria, but outside the country. Buratai added that when the Ukrainian crisis started, Onyeama consulted him on what was happening and luckily, he (Buratai) was in touch with the Air Force and some of the diplomats and Onyeama ensured that the evacuation of Nigerians was conducted successfully.
Further speaking on the crisis in Sudan, Buratai stated that Onyeama was also on top of the situation and did very well to ensure that all Nigerian citizens were evacuated from Sudan and there was no single casualty. Responding, Onyeama said he was humbled by the gesture of the non-career ambassadors.