by Dotun Ogundare, MBA
It was a typical day on the weekend when scholars would usually visit one another. A friend brought out her computer to entertain me with a slideshow from her photo collections. She had carefully annotated the slides. One of the captions “A leader of reckoning” attracted me, prompting me to pause the slideshow. It was a picture of Ambassador Eniola Ajayi with the Nigerian scholars in Hungary.
My host further explained how Nigerian scholars think highly of Dr Ajayi because of her uncommon qualities. It was not merely the words used to describe the diplomat that captivated me, as it has become typical for everyone to hail her in superlative terms. My host’s facial expression struck me with near-physical force. She must have been especially touched by the ambassador.
While serving as the Nigerian Ambassador to Hungary, Dr Ajayi also had concurrent jurisdiction over a few other Balkan countries where Nigeria has no substantive ambassadors, notably Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro. For several years, Nigeria has had relatively little presence in those fringes of Eastern Europe. When the baton came to her, she saw the need to improve the prospects of Nigeria in the Balkans and quickly rose to the occasion.
We will always acknowledge her efforts in increasing scholarship slots for Nigeria in Hungary and Serbia. This achievement is more remarkable in Serbia, which had hitherto only awarded two scholarships yearly to Nigerians in the World in Serbia Project. The outstanding diplomacy of Ambassador Ajayi significantly increased those scholarship slots.
Today, Nigeria has a growing community of alumni of the project, flourishing in their respective endeavours. She created several other inroads and opportunities for Nigerian youths in this part of Europe through scholarships, trade, and sports. If you visited Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro a few years ago, you would find much fewer Nigerian scholars than you would today.
During her tenure, multilateral trade blossomed between Nigeria and those countries. This development was further illuminated when I bumped into Prince Gold Timilehin, the chair of the Nigerian-Belgrade Serbian Chamber of Commerce, during a function at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, Nigeria. Prince Timilehin described the leadership of Ambassador Ajayi in glowing terms.
When she moved over to the Netherlands, it was a mixture of emotions for Nigerians in Hungary and the surrounding countries she had served. We never wanted her to go. She proceeded to the Netherlands and performed with the same distinction. Ambassador Ajayi is a stunningly competent diplomat.
What I find fascinating about her is the Nigerian spirit that burgeons in her. Many others share this sentiment. Her fecundity of thoughts about Nigeria is incredible. She has demonstrated more patriotism than words could describe. You will always find her Facebook and LinkedIn fields with news of Nigerians doing wonders in various parts of the world. No matter how grim you feel, you will lighten up if you encounter Ambassador Ajayi. What a patriotic leader she is!
She is always giving positive energy. She continues to utilise social media impressively to enhance Nigeria’s image in all aspects. Her grasp of contemporary trends is fascinating, embodying both the vigour of youth and the wisdom of experience. With her innovative approach to problem-solving, she strikes the perfect middle ground between the young and the older generations.
Her humility is also on the front burner. To us, she is beyond a diplomat, a mother; her compassion for Nigeria and humility in service are legendary. In a society where your position determines who you relate with, it fascinates me to find a diplomat without any airs around her. As an ambassador, she made every Nigerian under her jurisdiction feel valued. Whenever she travelled, she would invite students to her hotel reception to spend time with them. It is an unusual sight to find a Nigerian of her standing discussing Nigerian soccer, music, and culture with students. She did that regularly without apologies.
I learnt from her that being humble without being defrocked of your social status is possible. Ambassador Ajayi strengthened community bonding and team building during her tenure with us here in Europe. Every month, she held a Zoom meeting with every Nigerian. Consular services were at their best under her, always leading by example.
Ambassador Ajayi is what the Yoruba describe as Afenifere. She will stop at nothing to help you succeed in life. Knowing her has been a blessing to many of us in this part. As she clocks 59, I can only keep wishing her the best. I pray God will continue to grease her elbow of charity so that the public will continue to flourish in her name.
Dotun Ogundare, AUN alum & tech practitioner, author, and self-styled Digital Nomad, contributed this tribute from Serbia. He currently juggles other endeavours with academic life. He worked as a Teaching Assistant at the Corvinus University of Budapest before becoming a research associate at Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Novi Sad, under the European Horizon Project.
Ambassador (Dr.) Eniola Ajayi