Nigeria sends junior minister to Russia-Africa summit

The Russia-Africa summit is happening in Moscow, with many African countries taking part. This event is seen as an effort by President Vladimir Putin to strengthen Russia's presence in Africa.

Many top African leaders are there, including presidents, vice presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state, each showing their country's interests. Their attendance highlights how important these relations are with Russia. Countries like Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, DRC, Ghana, Mali, and Ethiopia are among those represented by their leaders.

Nigeria is not represented by its president, vice president, or even its foreign minister. Instead, the country is represented by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye. He and his team left for Russia the night before the two-day event began on Wednesday.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a habit of sending Vice President Kashim Shettima to important international events. Since taking office, he has not attended any UN General Assembly meetings, leaving his deputy to represent him. There are various reasons why President Tinubu often sends his deputy to these events. These include focusing on urgent domestic issues and national security.

Even though the vice president is in Nigeria, President Tinubu did not ask him to lead the Nigerian delegation to the Russia-Africa summit. The next in line to take charge would be the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, but she is also not in Moscow for the summit.

Sources say Mr Enikanolaiye was chosen to represent Nigeria because Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu had other commitments. The minister's spokesperson, Magnus Eze, told us that she had planned to attend until a last-minute change occurred.

"The minister was assigned to another assignment. But because of its importance, the minister of state was assigned to represent the country in her place. The Minister of State is in Moscow representing the country," he said.

Mr Enikanolaiye’s spokesperson, Richard Elesho, confirmed this information as well. Trade and security are key topics at the summit. On Wednesday, President Putin told African leaders that Russia is a better partner than the colonial West, which still tries to exploit Africa's resources and uses debt to slow development.

"Africa is increasingly asserting itself as one of the key players in the global economy and politics. However, the emergence of a multipolar world is, of course, no easy task; it faces resistance from countries that are not prepared to accept this reality: those who are accustomed to thinking in terms of their colonial past and to enriching themselves fabulously," he said.

The Nigerian ambassador to Russia, Joseph Iji, had earlier said that Vice President Kashim Shettima would attend the summit. He mentioned that Mr Shettima would lead Nigeria's delegation.

"The Vice President of Nigeria will lead the government delegation. We want to deepen our relations with Russia and with Russian businesses," he was quoted as saying by the African Initiative.

The presidency did not explain why Nigeria downgraded its representation at the summit from the vice president to a junior minister. When we asked Mr Shettima’s spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, he seemed unaware of the plans for the vice president to lead the delegation.

When we asked him to confirm whether the vice president was to lead the delegation, Mr Nkwocha told us to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We reached out to the ministry’s spokesperson, Olufemi Adeniyi, but did not get a response by the time we filed this report.

However, the foreign minister’s spokesperson, Mr Eze, confirmed that the vice president was initially supposed to lead the delegation, which would have included Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu. He said he could not confirm if the vice president still led the delegation after Mr Enikanolaiye replaced the minister as the representative.

He noted that Mr Enikanolaiye traveled with his delegation. Although the presidency could not provide a clear reason for the downgrade, there are possible explanations. Campaigns for the January 2027 presidential election have started, and the ruling party is already campaigning. Messrs Tinubu and Shettima were both in Kaduna on Saturday to launch the campaign and will play key roles. The president has mentioned that he will join the campaign in 12 states, while the vice president is expected to campaign in even more.

Another reason might be Nigeria's growing ties with the United States, which could have influenced the decision to send a lower-level representative to the Russian event. After US President Donald Trump wrongly claimed last year that there was a Christian genocide in Nigeria, the Nigerian government has worked to improve relations with the US. This has included joint security operations.