because why would they do anything logical?

Abuja is a hard-to-fill post.  Shocker, I know.  But since the powers-that-be have a difficult time filling mid-level positions here (as only your first two tours are directed), many mid-level positions are occupied by entry-level officers.  Many other positions remain unfilled, leaving more work and less time to do it for those who serve here.  This leaves officers bogged down with routine and mundane tasks, making it exceptionally difficult for them to undertake anything new that might augment the quality of life here, thus perpetuating the cycle which makes this post hard-to-fill.

Now I think my husband is pretty amazing.  Not only is he a fabulous husband, he is also an incredibly intelligent, creative, diligent and driven man who is able to accomplish things of which mere mortals like me couldn't even begin to dream.  Like the housing project he's begun here in Abuja.  Obviously I can't go into many more details here, but I can say that if he's able to complete the project on which he's been busting his ass for the last year, not only will he greatly improve the lives of those who serve here, he will save the government tens of millions of dollars doing so.

In order to finish what he started, he needs six extra months at post.  So he requested an extension.  Post approved said extension and everybody asked the powers-that-be in DC.  Of course, as Abuja is hard-to-fill and Joey is doing something to make it an easier place to live and save the government money, DC said yes no. 

I truly don't care one way or another; Joey and I had discussed a possible extension at great length before he actually requested it and I'd made my peace with it, knowing how important this huge professional accomplishment would be to my husband, and how much the project will benefit those who serve here.  But apparently Joey's language training class in January is more important.  We're scheduled to go to Panama next August and even though that post is one of the most highly bid in the world, they'd rather fill his vacancy here in Abuja than in Panama.  So now they'll remove an officer who has requested six more months to achieve his goal and replace him with another officer who probably didn't want to come here in the first place.

I just don't get it.