By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Former Nigerian foreign minister and one-time Director-General (DG) of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, turns 80 today and it’s a grand celebration for a doyen in the diplomatic circle. The landmark is celebrating a trail-blazing Nigerian intellectual and scholar who paved the way for his academic progress as a Ph.D. holder at the youthful age of 27.
That feat was to follow him on his career path by being appointed as the head of the Nigerian foreign policy think-tank, NIIA, as a mere 33-year-old. Akinyemi became a minister to a military government at 43 and loaded his credentials as a celebrated scholar, administrator, publisher, and statesman.
From the highest levels of power, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday congratulated the former Minister of External Affairs (1985-1987) during the regime of military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, on his 80th birthday. The president, in a statement by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja, joined in celebrating the highly resourceful diplomat on the milestone.
Buhari said he was joining the academia, and the media, among others, in identifying with the former minister “whose intellectual and managerial influence cuts across almost every sphere of national life, with a stronger presence in the formulation of policies, particularly on democracy, good governance and diplomacy.” According to the president, the scholar remains unwavering in his patriotism and loyalty to the growth of the nation and Africa. Buhari said he believes Akinyemi’s foresight, steadfastness, and diligence deserved commendation while appreciating his willingness to share his experience whenever the need arose, including shaping the electoral process for democracy.
He further lauded Akinyemi for playing a significant role in global dialogue with other nations and global institutions including the United Nations (UN), the Commonwealth, and African Union (AU). The president prayed for Akinyemi’s good health and strength, especially in mentoring and inspiring younger scholars and leaders.
Akinyemi is widely respected for his achievements in raising the NIIA to a world standard. He would also be fondly remembered for the establishment of his role in the Non-Aligned Movement (during the era of the cold war between the United States and the defunct USSR). At home Nigerians, especially beneficiaries, still remember him for establishing the home-grown version of the American Peace Corps, the Technical Aid Corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made up of volunteers of experts and technocrats to needy countries in Africa and other parts of the developing world.
Being a rather silent role in the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) which saw the termination of military rule in the country in 1999, Akinyemi has also been ‘invisible’ on matters of national importance for some time now. But recently he broke his silence with comments on the issue of the electoral bill veto by President Buhari, urging the National Assembly not to override the veto on the amendment to the bill. Before his appointment at NIIA, Akinyemi was a professor of Political Science at the University of Lagos. He told The Guardian newspaper that the president had acted in good faith in vetoing the electoral act amendment. He also added a voice to the weightier issue underscoring the presidential withholding of the assent, asking Nigerians to support the president’s view on the direct primary option for political parties to elect their candidates.
President Buhari had in a letter dated December 13, 2021, informed National Assembly members of his decision, explaining that direct primaries are not only expensive but will also put a financial burden on the country’s resources. Harping on the point, Akinyemi said it would be disastrous for Nigeria’s electoral system if the president signed the bill as presented to him by the National Assembly. “My view on the electoral bill vetoed by the President is different from that of most Nigerians, including pressmen,” he said.
A straight talker, the former minister said: “With the situation of electoral position in the country, as it is now, we know the governors are in charge. That is Ali Baba and the 36 thieves. The electoral bill, which the President has just vetoed, you don’t know how many millionaires are out there, how many rich men who have made money from drugs, who have made money from money laundering who will now sponsor primaries.”
“If the President signs it as presented to him, you are going to move from Ali Baba and the 36 thieves to Ali Baba and a million thieves that you won’t even know. At least, we know the governors, but we don’t know a million thieves that are out there who will then capture your electoral system. So, I support the President’s veto. And I pray the National Assembly will not override that veto, or else it will be worse for us.”
Akinyemi was born in Ilesa, Osun State. He attended Igbobi College in Yaba (1955-1959), Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti (1960-1961), Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (1962-1964), Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, US (1964-1966) and Trinity College, Oxford, England (1966-1969).
He was a visiting professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and the Diplomacy Training Programme, University of Nairobi, Kenya, both in 1977. He was Regents Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, the US in 1979, Professor of Political Science at the University of Lagos, from 1983 until 1985, and Visiting Fellow, St John’s College, Cambridge, England in 1984.
Akinyemi was NIIA DG from 1975 until 1983. The NIIA is an organisation focusing on Nigerian foreign policy; while he was Director-General, it was involved in promoting Nigerian-Angolan relations, among other things. He wrote and edited many books and journals in his lifetime. He married Rowena Jane Viney in 1970, blessed with one son and three daughters.
