Nigeria’s Search for Influence in Washington under Amb. Kayode Are

By Adeola Akinremi

On Tuesday, one of Nigeria’s most influential global figures, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, received an international award in Washington, D.C. The event brought together American policymakers, business leaders, diplomats, religious leaders and members of the Nigerian diaspora. It was also a reminder of a strategic reality often overlooked in Abuja: some of Nigeria’s most valuable diplomatic assets in America do not sit inside the embassy.

Nigeria’s newly appointed ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Lateef Kayode Are, was not present. He was represented by a member of his team. Under ordinary circumstances, that would hardly merit attention; Ambassador Are formally assumed office only after presenting his credentials to President Donald Trump in May, following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu earlier this year. Yet diplomacy is a profession where time moves faster than calendars suggest. In Washington, six months can determine whether an ambassador becomes a consequential player or simply another diplomatic observer. Relationships are formed early, influence is accumulated gradually, and opportunities rarely wait for officials to settle into their offices.

As Cameron Hudson, a former White House Africa director, observed last year: “This is not an era to be casual about your diplomacy in Washington.” For Nigeria, this is a moment that demands urgency, strategy, and visibility, particularly as Ambassador Are arrives at a time of significant structural change in U.S.-Africa relations. On March 19, Nick Checker, the State Department’s senior Africa official, delivered what amounts to the clearest articulation yet of the Trump administration’s Africa policy. The framework rests on three pillars: commercial diplomacy, foreign assistance reform, and conflict resolution. There’s a simple underlying proposition: Africa should be viewed less as a recipient of aid and more as a strategic commercial partner.

Checker’s most consequential observation may have been his assertion that Africa represents “the world’s next great commercial opportunity.” Whether Africans welcome or resist that framing, it reflects how Washington increasingly views the continent. The implication for Nigeria is straightforward: if America now approaches Africa through the lens of economic competition and strategic interests, Nigeria must respond with its own clearly defined agenda. The danger, however, is that Nigeria enters the conversation reacting to American priorities rather than advancing its own. Every successful bilateral relationship begins with clarity of purpose; while Washington knows what it wants from Africa, it remains unclear whether Abuja knows what it wants from Washington.

If commercial diplomacy is to be the currency of the relationship, Nigeria’s most valuable equity resides in its diaspora—an extraordinary network of unofficial ambassadors. The Nigerian-American community is widely regarded as the largest Black immigrant population in the United States and one of the most professionally accomplished immigrant groups in the country, occupying senior positions across the World Bank, IMF, White House agencies, major technology companies, universities, hospitals, and think tanks. Beyond these professional networks lies an equally powerful institutional infrastructure. Few African countries possess an organization with the reach of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, whose hundreds of congregations across America represent not merely a religious network but a potent platform for community mobilization, civic engagement, and relationship building. A modern embassy should view these communities not as ceremonial audiences but as strategic partners.

Effective diplomacy requires reciprocity in visibility. When American ambassadors are posted to Abuja, they are conspicuously public figures, aggressively engaging local media to anchor Washington’s overarching interests in the Nigerian consciousness. Nigeria must match this energy. The most effective Nigerian ambassador in recent memory, Professor Adebowale Adefuye, understood this implicitly. Serving in Washington from 2010 until his death in 2015, a period equally dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency, Adefuye maintained a tireless public presence, engaged policymakers, rallied the Nigerian community in America, appeared regularly in American and Nigerian media, and consistently articulated Nigeria’s position on security cooperation. Whether one agreed with his approach or not, Washington knew where Nigeria stood because Adefuye made sure Nigeria’s voice was heard.

Ambassador Are does not need to replicate Adefuye’s style because every diplomat must find his own voice. But he should emulate Adefuye’s sense of urgency. Influence in Washington is rarely granted; it is accumulated through relentless engagement. Nigeria routinely discusses U.S. policy toward Africa, but far less attention is devoted to Nigeria’s policy toward the United States. Abuja must decide whether its priorities over the next four years lie in securing American investment in manufacturing, forging technology partnerships, accessing energy transition financing, or stabilizing critical mineral value chains and defense cooperation. Without these clearly defined objectives, diplomacy risks devolving into a series of polite meetings rather than a coordinated strategy.

Ambassador Are arrives in Washington with credentials that few Nigerian diplomats possess, given a career in intelligence and national security that yields a deep understanding of power, interests, and statecraft. But Washington today is not merely a security assignment; it is a fierce contest for investment, influence, technology, and talent. America has announced its Africa strategy, and Nigeria’s task now is to articulate its America strategy. Time is already running. The most successful ambassadors understand that diplomacy is not measured by years in office, but by how quickly they convert access into influence and influence into national advantage. Ambassador Are’s clock has already started.

Adeola Akinremi, a policy strategist, is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hintells, a cross-corridor, AI-powered intelligence infrastructure for businesses and African diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C. He can be reached via email: adeola@hintells.com