House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs visit to Nigerian Institute of International Affairs revealed the rot the elite institute has been abandoned under. Pix L- R, are Hon Zachria Nyampa, Hon. Benedict Etanabene, Hon. Salisu Yusuf, Host and DG of the Institute, Prof Eghosa Osaghae, Chairman of the Committee, Hon Oluwole Oke, Hon Uchenna Okonkwo, Hon Shina Oyedeji, and the Clerk of the Committee Lady Atim-Atedze Doo after a tour guide of the pathetic infrastructure the staff work under.
The State of the structure housing the Nigerian Institute for Foreign Affairs (NIIA), located in Victoria Island, Lagos, was on Monday described as unacceptable, regrettable and reprehensible. The House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, on over site visit to the Institute, roundly condemned its current state of utter neglect, and dilapidated infrastructures.
Led by Rt. Hon. Wole Oke, Committee chairman, the Honorable Members who were on an oversight visit to the Institute, expressed dismay at what they saw and heard about what used to be the premier foreign policy academy for Nigeria and Africa; the African version of the London Chatham House.
The shocked Committee members were unanimous that sadly, the place had become an obvious poor shell of its former stature, declaring that for a Think-Tank of that pedigree to sink into such a dire shape, responsibilities and and laws must have been broken, and fidelity to it’s core mandate abandoned.
They therefore unanimously agreed that the place demanded and deserved urgent and serious attention for speedy rehabilitation.
Said Hon Oke: “We must be deliberate in prioritising the legacy status of this monument as the cornerstone of not just Nigeria, but as Africa’s foreign policies incubator, integrity, and sustainability”.
He therefore promised that they would rally all that was necessary and follow up on every constitutional step, to help return life to the Institute’s critical infrastructure and depleted human resource capital.
Earlier while conducting the members through what still counts as facilities there, the Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, Director-General of the Institute, thanked the oversight visitors for their kind visit and deeply reflective engagements, saying that as the true representatives of the people and protector of their institutions, seeing by them was believing, and to us so strategic for life support.
The Committee saw the famous sought-after NIIA Conference Hall, now rejected by clients for dearth of basic amenities, a big archaic Press that can serve their catchment community profitably if revamped, a dilapidated and unsafe senior staff quarters, and a huge library of great books with little or no patronage.
There is, however, ray of hope as donors-endowed projects are going on for future commissioning, the Director-General revealed while passionately pleading with the lawmakers to help recover and return it’s properties in Abuja forcibly appropriated and kept by other agencies of Federal Government.
-Collins Steve Ugwu
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