By Dr. Nafisat Makinde
President Bola Tinubu has nominated three former top intelligence and security officers as Nigeria’s ambassadors to the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
The nominations, forwarded to the Senate for confirmation, continue the practice of placing retired security chiefs in some of the country’s highest-profile diplomatic missions.
The nominees are Ambassador Ayodele Oke, former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, posted to the United States; Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are, Director General of the State Security Service from 1999 to 2007 and National Security Adviser in 2010, posted to the United Kingdom; and Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu, ambassador to South Korea from 2016 to 2023, posted to France.
Oke previously served at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and studied at Emory University. Colonel Are, a First-Class Psychology graduate of the University of Ibadan, built his career in military intelligence. Dalhatu completed a full tenure in Seoul under the Buhari administration.
A senior Presidency official said the appointments reward decades of service while leveraging the nominees’ experience in strategic postings.
Analysts note the move reinforces a pattern of security-heavy ambassadorial selections to major Western capitals.
The Senate is expected to begin screening the nominees in the coming weeks.
