Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Sunday Steve Karimi, has expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for nominating Ambassador Audu-Rafiu Olusola Enikanolaiye as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. The 66-year-old Minister of State-designate hails from Igbagun in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Karimi Commends Tinubu's Choice
Karimi noted that the President has once again prioritized professionalism and merit in his choice of aides to help drive the policy direction of his administration, a preference that has dominated his approach to governance over several decades. In a statement by Toye Ibitoye, Senior Legislative Aide to Senator Karimi, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Services said, "I find it germane, even expedient, to appreciate His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for nominating Ambassador Audu-Rafiu Olusola Enikanolaiye as Minister of State designate for Foreign Affairs."
"Ambassador Enikanolaiye is not only from Kogi West Senatorial Zone, whose good people have accorded me the opportunity to serve them, he is easily one of Nigeria's most grounded diplomats of all time," Karimi added. Continuing, he noted: "I will yet come to other details about the pointed suitability of Ambassador Enikanolaiye for this office, but I must note that Mr President's choice on this occasion is consistent with his career preference for competence and cognate experience in the appointment of his aides. I can only express the collective appreciation of our people across the seven local government areas which make up our senatorial district."
A Career Spanning Four Decades
Senator Karimi further noted that President Tinubu has chosen a diplomat "who inhales and exhales diplomatic practice, in a career which has transcended four decades." He alluded to Enikanolaiye's illustrious career, which began in August 1982 when he was appointed "Foreign Service Officer VII" by the administration of former President Shehu Usman Shagari. Ambassador Enikanolaiye subsequently attained the peak of his career when he was appointed substantive Ambassador in 2013 by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and thereafter Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Karimi noted that instructively, Ambassador Enikanolaiye was pulled out of retirement by President Tinubu, who appointed him Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs, from which office he was elevated to Minister. He applauded him for distinguishing himself in his lifelong foreign service career, where he has built a reputation as a human encyclopedia. He commended him for building upon the legacies of older diplomats from Kogi West, including Ambassadors Olayinka Olasehinde Simonyan, John Kayode Sinkaiye, Edward Aina, Joseph Jaiyeola Lewu, Babatunde Paul Fadumiyo, Rotimi Akenson, as well as Yahaya Shuaib, Bako Adamu Umar, and others from the same senatorial zone.
Ambassador Enikanolaiye earned a First Class degree in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1981, and posted a Distinction upon completing his Master of International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos in 1991. Months before, he also garnered a Distinction in the Postgraduate Programme in Diplomatic Studies at the University of Oxford in 1991.
