The Pan African Psychologist Union (PAPU) joins the rest of the continent in celebrating the well deserved confirmation of Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye as Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. His emergence is not merely a victory for Nigeria’s diplomatic corps; it is a quiet reassurance that Africa’s most populous nation now places a cerebral, battle tested career diplomat at the helm of its international engagements.
As an organisation that brings together psychological scientists, practitioners, and policymakers from across Africa and the diaspora, PAPU has followed Ambassador Enikanolaiye’s trajectory with keen interest. From his days as a First-Class graduate of Political Science at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to his distinctions at Oxford and the University of Lagos, and through his meritorious rise from Foreign Service officer to Permanent Secretary, he has embodied the very essence of strategic patience, emotional intelligence, and cross cultural competence qualities that lie at the heart of modern diplomatic psychology.
We watched with admiration his appearance before the Nigerian Senate on May 6, 2026. His firm yet measured articulation of a foreign policy anchored on “firmness, reciprocity and measurable outcomes” resonated deeply with our union’s core conviction, that sustainable international relations cannot be built on reactive sympathy alone, but must be undergirded by a profound understanding of group behaviour, trauma, and the psychology of xenophobia.
Why does PAPU speak now? Because the challenges facing Nigeria’s foreign policy today; recurrent xenophobic violence against Nigerians in South Africa, the unraveling of regional solidarity with the AES pullout from ECOWAS, and the psychological toll of diaspora insecurity are not merely diplomatic or economic. They are fundamentally behavioural crises. They demand insights from African centred psychology, conflict resolution frameworks, and trauma informed diplomacy. PAPU, under the leadership of a Nigerian myself, Prof. Zamani Andrew has spent the last three years building regional and global platforms that bring psychological evidence to bear on governance, peacebuilding, and transnational justice.
Ambassador Enikanolaiye’s long career has already demonstrated an intuitive grasp of these dimensions. As an envoy to India, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and as a key actor in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the African Union processes, he has navigated the most difficult of human terrains: broken trust, collective memory of violence, and the search for shared identity. We believe that his tenure as Minister of State offers a historic opportunity to institutionalise behavioural diplomacy using psychological science to predict, prevent, and mitigate international friction.
PAPU therefore extends its warmest congratulations to the Honourable Minister. We also place on record our readiness to support his office through:
i. Psychological profiling and early warning systems for diaspora communities under threat.
ii. Behavioural interventions to counter xenophobic narratives in host countries.
iii. Training modules for foreign service officers on trauma informed consular responses.
iv. Pan African research on the social identity drivers of Afro phobia.
We look forward, in the coming weeks, to seeking a formal courtesy visit to the Honourable Minister, to present a memorandum on “The Psychology of African Solidarity: A Strategic Framework for Nigeria’s Foreign Policy.” This is not mere congratulation; it is a commitment to walk with a proven leader as he rewrites Nigeria’s diplomatic playbook.
Once again, congratulations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye. The oracle of our foreign service has now taken his well earned place at the policy table. PAPU stands with you mind, heart, and continent.
*Prof. Zamani Andrew*
_President, Pan African Psychologist Union (PAPU)_
