Meet 5 Top Diplomats In Nigeria.
By Admin
There are 109 Foreign Diplomatic Missions accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria. Based on the Ministry’s figures, there are 76 Embassies, these are full diplomatic missions based in Abuja. 22 High Commissions which are equivalent to the Embassies only that they are Commonwealth countries and 11 Consulates. Consular Offices in other Nigerian cities such as Lagos, Calabar, Kano, Kaduna, recently Enugu and Port Harcourt which provide visas, citizen services and trade support.
These offices are manned by high calibre Diplomats and other middle level staff with whom they represent their countries. We serve you some of these distinguished Diplomat in a series.
- H.E. Salaheddine Abbas Ibrahima was appointed High Commissioner (Ambassador) of the Republic of Cameroon to the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Presidential decree No. 2008/132 of 7 April 2008 and he presented his Letters of Credence on 25 July 2008, indicating formal accreditation and tenure as Head of Mission. He is recognised as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Nigeria — a ceremonial and senior position among foreign envoys, indicating he is the longest-serving Head of Mission in Abuja.
2. Ambassador Annett Günther is the German Ambassador to Nigeria. She started her career as a Diplomat at Federal Foreign Office Training Academy in 1991. By 1994 she has risen to, Cultural Directorate-General of the Federal Foreign Office. Between 1994-1997 she served at the German Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand. From 1997-2001 she served at German Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. From 2001- 2010 she held several sensitive positions in the Federal Foreign office in Berlin including full time Board member of the Staff Council of the Federal Foreign Office.
Ambassador Günther got her first Ambassadorial posting in 2010 as German Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana where she served till 2013. She returned to the Federal Foreign Office again serving in various capacities , Federal Foreign Office Berlin, Commissioner for Refugees and Migration, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Crisis Prevention and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding and Head of Division for the equipment of missions abroad.
From 2018-2022, she served as German Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya, the Federal Republic of Botswana, the Republic of Seychelles and to UNEP and UN-HABITAT. Since 2022 she has been the German Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS.
She studied English and Iranian Studies at Humboldt University to Berlin. Born in 1963, married with 2 children, she is a lover of dog outside of her Diplomatic schedules.
Richard Montgomery CMG
3. Richard is British High Commissioner to Nigeria and the UK Permanent Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) based in Abuja, from May 2023.
Richard was the UK Executive Director at the World Bank Group Boards from 2018 to 2022. His role included ensuring that the improvements agreed by shareholders in 2018 were implemented. Richard worked on the global COVID response, the UK’s G7 and COP26 presidencies, and the World Bank Group’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its global impact.
He was previously a Director at the Department for International Development (DFID), overseeing Asia, Caribbean and Overseas Territories Division. This included country programmes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and 10 other overseas offices and UK-based departments.
Before that, Richard served as Head of Office in Pakistan (2013 to 2015) and Nigeria (2009 to 2013), and Head of Corporate Human Resources (2006 to 2009). He has also worked in DFID’s top management group and DFID offices in Zambia, Bangladesh and India.
Before joining DFID Richard worked in a German engineering company, as a lecturer in development studies in Swansea University, and as a consultant for development projects across Asia. He studied anthropology, and has a PhD from Cambridge University on economic and social change in north India.
Ambassador Isaac Keen Parashina
4. His Excellency Isaac Keen Parashina, High Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is Kenya’s principal diplomatic representative in Abuja, accredited to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also serves concurrently as Kenya’s top diplomat to other West African countries (including Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and is involved with ECOWAS representation) . He presented his Letters of Credence to President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja in May, 2024.
As High Commissioner, he leads Kenya’s diplomatic mission in Nigeria, advancing bilateral relations in areas such as trade, investment, education, security cooperation, and cultural ties.
He regularly engages with Nigerian officials to strengthen cooperation on economic, political, youth, and academic sectors, and has worked on issues like visa facilitation, trade missions, and revitalizing bilateral institutions like the Nigeria–Kenya Joint Commission for Cooperation.
Ambassador Parashina holds a Master’s degree in Urban Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Planning from the University of Nairobi (Kenya).
He is described as a career public servant and diplomat with professional experience in public administration, governance, and international cooperation.
He has engaged with foreign ministries and officials, including Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss strengthening political and economic collaboration between Kenya and Nigeria.
Suzuki Hideo
5. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Nigeria. He is the Head of the Embassy of Japan in Abuja and represents Japanese political, economic, cultural, and development cooperation interests in Nigeria
He is a March 1988 Law graduate of University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law. After graduating, Suzuki entered Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and has spent his entire career in Japanese diplomacy.
Suzuki was Deputy Head of Mission and Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Austria, January, 2014. By October 2016, he was Deputy Head of Mission and Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Iran. he became Director General for International Affairs, Bureau of Defence Policy, Ministry of Defence (Japan), September, 2018.
August 2020, he was Deputy Head of Mission and Minister, Embassy of Japan in Germany. In August 2020, he was Deputy Head of Mission and Minister, Embassy of Japan in Germany. In August 2020, he was Deputy Head of Mission and Minister, Embassy of Japan in Germany. In August 2022 Suzuki became Deputy Director General, National Institute of Public Administration, National Personnel Authority and by April, 2024 he was promoted Director-General.
Ambassador Suzuki was appointed as Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria in November, 2024. He presented his Letter of Credence to President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja at a formal ceremony on 4th December, 2025. Throughout his career, Ambassador Suzuki has served in key strategic postings and high-level administrative roles both abroad and within Japan’s government, gaining extensive experience in bilateral diplomacy, international security policy, defence cooperation, and personnel administration.
