On the eve of independence in 1960, he was appointed into the Federal Public Service. Thus, he became the first Nigerian administrator to be appointed with the main purpose of redirecting the work of a government department to meet the requirement of a newly independent country. He was sent to the Royal College of Defence Studies in London for more training. When he returned to Lagos, he was posted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he served as the first Nigerian Permanent Secretary from 1960 until 1963. In 1964, he was assigned the task of opening the Nigeria Embassy in Italy where he was Nigeria's first representative. In 1967, he was to go to London as High Commissioner but his diplomatic career was terminated by the civil war in Nigeria.