The image of Nigeria has not been enhanced by the fact that more than six months after their confirmation by the Senate and subsequent official ceremonies in Abuja, only about 10 of the 61 ambassadors-designate have left for their countries of posting.

When it all began, this newspaper had cause to express doubts about the adequacy of the confirmation process undertaken by the Senate. The list, as usual, was sent without the country of destination attached. This robbed the confirmation process of the opportunity to scrutinise the suitability of the candidate in relation with the designated posting. This apart, the process, like the similar screening of ministers, failed the tests of incisiveness and clearly did not probe deep enough as to intellectual preparation, managerial capacity and as to whether the candidate had the overall skills to handle an ambassadorial job.

Predictably, ambassadorial postings have come to be interpreted as just another rehabilitation zone in Nigeria's rentier state. If you cannot win an election for an elective office or fail to get a ministerial slot, an ambassadorial position was the next best thing to aim for on the ever-moving gravy train. This need not be so.

Given the importance of international relations especially at a time of intertwining of economies or globalisation, the quality of a nation's representation abroad, particularly at the highest level, is very crucial. Ideally those presented abroad should be amongst the best and the brightest. Ambassadorial postings should in no way be used as compensatory sinecures to assuage bruised egos or to find jobs for redundant and often spent political apparatchiks.

The buck stops at the table of the President of the republic and he must accept responsibility for what has so far turned out to be a debacle. The cost to the nation's self-esteem and its pecking order in the comity of nations has been unacceptably high. This cannot possibly be the starting block to lay claim to a permanent seat at an enlarged United Nations Security Council. Nowhere is this more poignantly brought home than the reality that most of the ambassadors-designate are apparently being delayed by "agreemon." This remains the necessary document of clearance needed from their countries of destination, which is a form of approval from the receiving countries after they have done a background check on the ambassador-designate in order to determine if the person in question, or is it in contention, is the kind of person they want in their country?

This contention has already claimed a notable personality. That the country is facing contentious issues pertaining to "agreemon," over the posting and acceptability of its ambassadors-designate is a serious matter. It calls into question the rigour as well as the competence with which the matter is being handled by the external relations apparatus. Pleading in mitigation, the seemingly convenient position is being contrived that some of the ambassadors-designate are being delayed because of paucity of funds which ought to have been provided for by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is, of course, utterly ludicrous.

There is such a thing as a budgeting process; furthermore, there should have been proper scenario planning as well as calculations in appropriating funds to designated public offices. So ridiculous and self-serving is this proposition that it should never be canvassed again. Equally bothersome is the issue of the expenditure of public funds. We call for an immediate clarification as to whether the ambassadors-designate have already been receiving salaries or allowances since their confirmation.

As the Yar'Adua Administration enters into its second year in office, all efforts must be made to ensure that the machinery of government is retooled to provide for better and more effective co-ordination. The debacle over the posting of Ambassadors-designate shows an uncoordinated shoddiness in the machinery of government. The problem over 'agreemon' cannot but give the eerie feeling that this could represent an external appraisal of the Nigerian government. We demand a new beginning, this sort of faux pas has not edified our country and must never happen again.