Foreign Affairs Minister, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru, has said that attraction of foreign investments, skills and technology must be given top priority by Heads of Nigeria Missions abroad.

Ashiru told the Heads of Nigeria Missions in the Southern Africa countries at the signing of the performance contract in Pretoria, South Africa on Friday that the Heads of Missions should justify the trust reposed on them by Nigeria.

“As I have said before, any officer who is either unable or unwilling to live up to the highest standard of professionalism and efficiency service delivery will henceforth find it difficult to operate in the new environment that we seek to create.

“Promotion and welfare of Nigerians must be accorded top priority, with unflinching support and understanding of Mr. President.

“The Nigerian government is determined to provide the right environment, including the provision of requisite resources that will enable Nigeria Mission abroad better delivery on government transformation agenda,’’ Ashiru said.

He said the signing of the performance contract with him by the Heads of Missions was in line with the new policy and practice of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Among other things, the performance contract process, an innovative management practice, is intended to foster accountability in service delivery and cost-effectiveness in the conduct of government business in Nigeria.

“ Under the scheme, public servants are expected to be better focused in the discharge of assigned tasks with specific target and timeliness that can be regularly evaluated and measured against overall government policies and objectives,’’ he said.

He said it was no longer valid argument in the foreign ministry that the outputs were intangible and hardly susceptible to performance evaluation and measurement.

“To change this norm and in tandem with the vision of Mr. President, I have sought to deploy foreign policy as an instrument of economic development in a manner that facilitate job creation for the Nigerian people, while contributing to poverty eradication across the country,’’ Ashiru said.

He charged the Heads of Missions to protect the interest of Nigeria abroad, protect the interest of Nigeria economy and improve the profile and image of Nigeria abroad.

Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, while addressing the Heads of the Missions, said the new Nigeria foreign policy should be economic diplomacy.

“My ministry and the foreign affairs ministry have a strong partnership. I have been collaborating with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in areas of visas regime,’’ he said.

He said Heads of Missions had a duty and responsibility to attract investors to the country from their respective missions.

“The Heads of Missions have an important role to play in the country’s attainment of growth and development through attraction of foreign investors to the country,’’ Aganga said.

“You must have trade and investment desk in your various missions .There is also the need to set up regional trade and investment across the globe.

“Your role in regional trade and investment are key for intra-trade within the continent,’’ Aganga said.