Ambassadorial nominees fail to recite national anthem, pledge

Senate Chamber

In the file: Senate Chamber during a plenary session

The screening of the ambassadorial nominees in Abuja on Tuesday was trailed with so much drama as some designates failed to recite the national anthem and national pledge.

Buhari had on June 9 sent to the Senate 47 names of Nigerians to be screened and confirmed as career diplomats.

The President, in the letter he personally signed which was dated June 6, 2016, requested the Senate to approve the list at the shortest possible time.

Vivian Okeke, a nominee from Anambra State, missed the last stanza of the National Anthem, while another envoy from Niger State, Ibrahim Isah, failed to recite the National Pledge properly.

Jane Ndem, the nominee from Benue State confidently told the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that the capital of Lagos is Lagos.

Shakirat Ogundero from Oyo State was able to name two out of three presidential candidates in the 2015 election – Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.

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Baba Garba, while reciting the pledge, skipped the “to serve Nigeria with all my strength” line, he returned to it and skipped “to defend her unity” again.

Janet Bisong from Delta State, while apologising for not being able to state the number of local government areas in her state, was interrupted by one of the panelists, Senator James Manager, who is from Delta, saying, “You know it; it’s 25.”

Instead of singing “Peace and unity” in the last line of the first stanza of the national anthem, Okeke, one of the 47 ambassadorial nominees, sang “Peace and integrity”.

Also, when Monsurat Sunmonu, Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs asked Isah, who is currently serving in Turkey to recite the National pledge, he failed to do so. While reciting the pledge, he replaced “… Her honour and glory” with “Her honour and integrity” in the second to the last line of the national pledge.

However, James Manager, a member of the committee, intervened and corrected the nominees.

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