Africa the Centre-piece of Nigeria's Foreign Policy

• Main Author: Emenike, Uzoma Elizabeth
• Published: University of Reading 2007
• Subjects: 327
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.485580

This thesis examines Nigeria's foreign policy framework as it relates to Africa. Nigeria sees Africa as the main focus ofits foreign policy. It focuses on what constitutes Nigeria's foreign policy objectives and how over the years the said objectives have been played out. Therefore the aim is to understand how Nigeria has been able to translate foreign policy pronouncements into action based policies. The theme of the thesis is that Africa is the centre point of Nigeria's foreign policy which does provide Nigeria a leadership role within. the continent. A role believed to have been bestowed upon Nigeria given her size, population of over 120 million people and endowment in natural resources. There is no doubt that Nigeria enjoys such a position and has played quite some significant positive role in decolonisation, fall of apartheid, racism and economic development in Africa. From the ECOWAS sub region where Nigeria has hegemonic influence to the extra regional UN, Nigeria remains constant in her championing ofAfrican issues Nigeria realjses the dilemma in which African states find themselves, and that their international relations carry the burden of having to deal with the drastic effect of colonial rule. Many weaker African states are relegated to the background in virtually all spheres of life, and hence they often operate from dependent positions with the rest of the world; however an afro-centric posture has continued to dominate Nigeria's international politics. The dynamism in Nigeria's foreign policy is depicted clearly in the fact that since independence in 1960 Africa has continued to remain a constant feature in the practice ofNigeria's foreign policy. It also seems that Africa will in the years to come continue to receive high priority as a national interest in Nigeria's foreign policy objectives.