Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s latest ambassadorial list, describing it as evidence of what he called the “emergence of rogue diplomacy” in Nigeria.

Dalung made the claim in a statement on Monday, alleging that some nominees are dogged by integrity issues and questionable past conduct.

The former minister said ambassadorial nominations usually “mirror the quality of the government,” insisting that leadership should reflect higher ethical standards.

Dalung accused the administration of appointing individuals whose reputations “wobble under the weight of corruption trials, moral stains, and dubious antecedents.”

He suggested that based on the current pattern, controversial figures could end up being nominated as ambassadors to conflict-prone regions, and also criticised the administration’s stance with regards to negotiations with extremist groups, saying the government had become “soft” on those enabling insecurity.

“If foreign policy is the mirror through which nations view one another, then Nigeria’s reflection today is that of a cracked mirror showing a fractured identity. The image of any country is sculpted by the caliber of its envoys, yet we now seem content to send into the world ambassadors whose shadows loom larger than their credentials.

“And as for Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the celebrated architect of ‘technical glitches’ and silent coronations, perhaps his next deployment should indeed be to the Vatican, where he could tutor the College of Cardinals on how to rig a papal conclave with divine efficiency.

“Nigeria has not only stumbled into failure; it has descended into a full-blown kakistocracy, government by the worst, selected by the compromised, and celebrated by the shameless,” Dalung said.