FG urges foreign Service Academy trainees to be culturally sensitive

Nigerian government has urged trainees of the Foreign Service Academy (FSA) to be culturally sensitive in diplomacy to attain professional success.

This was made known in Tuesday by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu during the inauguration of the 174 trainees of the 26th regular course of FSA that started from March to October 2025 at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) in Abuja.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu who noted that every country has its own nuances, its own culture and its own conventions, said those conventions might not be spelt to censor the sayings they abide by here.

According her, “Every country has its own nuances, its own culture and its own conventions. Those conventions might not be spelt to censor the sayings we abide by here.

“It is very important that this batch of trainees are very culturally sensitive.

“It is one of the very first things they need to do when they get to their countries of accreditation and posting.”

She urged the trainees to take advantage of the specialised training programme to prepare themselves for the onerous tasks that lay ahead.

She said that it would teach them how best to be exemplary diplomats and abide by best practices, in line with international standards of diplomacy.

Continuing, she said it would also enable the trainees to serve their country passionately and professionally.

Remarks were made by the Permanent-Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Dunoma Ahmed, Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack who was represented by Permanent-Secretary, Career Management Office, Mrs. Fatima Mahmod.

Also were Director-General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Amb. Mohammed Mohammed represented by Director of Training of the Agency, Amb. Musa Abubakar and Administrator/Chief Executive Officer of Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Dr Abdul-Ganiyu Obatoyinbo.

It could be recalled that the Academy was initially established by the Ministry as a Foreign Service Institute through the Cabinet Memorandum in 2006 to strengthen its human and institutional capacities on policy research, analysis and monitoring the efficacy of Foreign Policy.

The institute was later transformed into an Academy in 2017, to offer targeted training opportunities and also better respond to the changing diplomatic landscape.