Zim Now News Desk
Outgoing UK ambassador to Zimbabwe Pete Vowles is heading to Nigeria where he will serve as the next High Commissioner.
The complexity of Nigeria is likely to test that people-first approach on a much bigger and more complicated stage.
Related Stories
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and one of the world’s largest nations by population. It is also one of the continent’s most culturally complex societies, with more than 250 ethnic groups and hundreds of languages. The three largest groups, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, together make up more than 60 percent of the population, but the national story is far wider than those three names.
Religion adds another layer. Nigeria is roughly split between large Muslim and Christian populations, with regional, ethnic and political identities often overlapping in ways that make public diplomacy far more delicate as the ride in a danfo is not on the same level as the Harare kombi. In addition, he does not have the advantage of a long running relationship spanning four decades and different positions.
Vowles’ Zimbabwe formula was warmth, humility, language, food, humour and getting close enough to ordinary life to ride in a kombi, and it worked, but duplicating it in Nigeria may require intricate balancing and being able to be a friend to many very different people.
Imagine Nigerians taking him to task over his jollof choice and the other camps taking umbrage that he did not choose their version. If he pulls off the Nigerian tour, Pete Vowle will have earned a dedicated study topic in the modern day diplomat training manual.
Leave Comments