All About Lateef Are, Nigeria’s U.S. Ambassador-Designate

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the posting of Colonel Lateef Are as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to the United States, a move that signals a return to full-scale diplomacy after a long period in which many Nigerian missions operated without substantive envoys.

The decision, announced in Abuja on January 23, 2026, also confirmed postings to France and the United Kingdom, three of the 68 ambassadorial nominees the Senate confirmed in December 2025. 

The Presidency directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to formally notify the host governments in line with diplomatic procedure, an important step before any envoy can take up the job in practice.

Why this appointment is getting attention

Are’s posting stands out for one reason: his background is rooted in military intelligence and national security, not classic career diplomacy. 

That profile is now being placed at the center of Nigeria’s engagement with Washington, one of Nigeria’s most consequential bilateral relationships for security cooperation, trade, investment, visas, diaspora engagement, and multilateral coordination.

It also comes after Tinubu’s “total recall” of Nigeria’s ambassadors on September 2, 2023, a recall that left many missions led by chargés d’affaires or senior officers with limited authority for high-level political engagement. Nigeria has 109 diplomatic missions worldwide, made up of embassies, high commissions and consulates, according to the 2023 recall announcement.

Lateef Are – The basics

Colonel Lateef Are hails from Ogun State and is widely known in Nigeria’s security community as a veteran intelligence professional with senior leadership experience.

His career combines three tracks that rarely show up in one résumé: operational military intelligence training, top-level domestic security leadership, and formal academic preparation in psychology and international law/diplomacy credentials that, on paper, fit a security-heavy diplomatic moment.

Military formation and intelligence roots

Are is an alumnus of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in December 1974 as part of Regular Course 12, graduating among the best-performing officers in his set. 

After commissioning, he was deployed to the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps, placing him early in the national security pipeline.

Accounts of his cohort note that several contemporaries later became prominent figures in Nigeria’s security architecture, an indicator of how influential that generation became in shaping the country’s intelligence and defence ecosystem.

Academic record: first-class psychology, then diplomacy

Unlike many officers whose schooling ends at command and staff training, Are also built an academic profile outside the barracks. 

He earned a First Class Honours degree in Psychology from the University of Ibadan in 1980 and was decorated with multiple prizes for graduating at the top of his class.

He later obtained a master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos in 1987—training that is directly relevant for the core tasks of an envoy: negotiation, treaties, protocol, and state-to-state engagement.

From intelligence insider to DSS Director-General

Are’s reputation is closely tied to the intelligence ecosystem around the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), where he worked with General Aliyu Gusau. In 1999, when Gusau became National Security Adviser, he recommended Are to then-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who appointed him Director-General of the State Security Service (DSS/SSS).

That appointment attracted public discussion at the time, including commentary around elite networks and shared community ties. But the core institutional fact remains: Are led the country’s domestic intelligence service at the start of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, a period marked by democratic transition pressures and evolving internal security demands.

Deputy NSA and brief time as Acting NSA

Are returned to the center of national security decision-making in the Jonathan era. In April 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him Deputy National Security Adviser. After Aliyu Gusau’s resignation as NSA, Are briefly served as Acting NSA before Jonathan appointed General Owoye Andrew Azazi as substantive NSA effective October 4, 2010.

This episode matters because it shows Are has experience at the level where Nigeria’s most sensitive security relationships are coordinated—exactly the type of background that could shape his diplomatic priorities in Washington.

The Ikoyi residence dispute and the court intervention

After leaving office, Are resurfaced publicly in 2015 over a legal dispute involving a residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, which he said had been allocated to him as a post-service entitlement. Reports from that period say a Federal High Court ordered that he and his family be reinstated pending the determination of the suit.

While the episode remains part of the public record, it is also a reminder that the new envoy will carry a high-profile history into a high-scrutiny posting.

What Are’s Washington posting could mean

Nigeria–U.S. relations routinely run on multiple tracks at once: security cooperation and intelligence sharing, trade and investment flows, visa and consular pressures, diaspora engagement, and regional diplomacy tied to West Africa’s stability. 

Naming a security heavyweight to Washington suggests Abuja wants to give added weight to the security track, especially as U.S. officials continue to monitor Nigeria’s internal security challenges closely.

At the same time, a U.S. posting is not a single-issue job. A successful ambassador will also need to manage the broader diplomatic portfolio: economic diplomacy, technology and education linkages, Nigeria’s image and investor confidence, and constant engagement with Congress, think tanks, and the private sector.

What happens next

As “ambassador-designate,” Are still has procedural steps ahead. The Presidency has already directed that the host governments be notified “in accordance with diplomatic procedures,” which typically includes the host country’s acceptance (agrément) before the envoy can formally assume duties. After arrival, an ambassador becomes fully active in the role after presenting credentials to the host head of state.