Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The United States President, Joe Biden, has nominated Richard Mills Jr as the new US Ambassador to Nigeria.
He is to replace the outgoing US envoy to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump on June 24, 2019.
Mills’ nomination was contained in a statement by the White House website recently, presenting his service in prominent diplomacy capacities for US.
The statement obtained by Ikengaonline read: “Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following leaders to serve as key leaders in his administration: “Richard Mills, Jr., a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as the U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
“Previously, he was Deputy Chief of Mission and then Chargé d’Affaires a.i. at the U.S. Mission to Canada. Prior to that, Mills served as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. He has also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon and as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires a.i. at U.S. Embassy Valetta, Malta.
“Other assignments include Senior Democracy Advisor at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Political Counselor at U.S. Embassy London, and Political Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mills was an Associate Attorney with the firm of Duncan, Allen and Mitchell in Washington, D.C.
“A native of Louisiana, Mills earned a B.A. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and a M.S. in National Security Policy from the National Defense University. He is the recipient of multiple State Department awards and speaks French and Russian.”
The US and Nigeria have maintained a cordial relationship but human rights abuses and persecution of Christians by non-state actors without any sanctions from the Government, forced the US under Trump administration to place Nigeria on Religious Persecution Watchlist.
Although the Biden administration removed Nigeria from the list, some US senators in the aftermath of the massacre of Catholic parishioners at Owo by terrorists suspected to be Islamic fundamentalists, have renewed call for Nigeria’s reinstatement on the watchlist.
The Federal Government had blamed the attack on ISWAP but the Ondo State Government cried foul, saying the Federal Government acted rashly without investigations.
