The Ecology of Public Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria’s Foreign and Defence Policies Implementation in Africa

Umoh A. Kofi & Cletus C. Nwadiogbu

Download article picture_as_pdf

Abstract

This paper examined the nature and effects of the Nigerian environment on the implementation of its foreign and defence policies. The major objectives of this endeavour were: to identify and highlight the socio-political forces impinging on foreign and defence policies implementation in Africa; and to assess the use of foreign and defence policy resources by successive Nigerian regimes in containing threats to its interests in Africa. The descriptive and focused comparative methods were adopted. Data for the study were derived mostly from existing sources such as journals, newspapers, magazines, scholarly texts, internet websites and other published materials. While realism and rational choice theories formed the bases for explication of foreign and defence policy issues, existing data were analysed qualitatively leading to contextual deductions. Findings revealed that the capacity of Nigeria’s foreign and defence policies to adequately deal with threats to its interests in Africa is punctuated by prebendal politics, sectional interests and poor perception of these policies by successive Nigerian leaders. The low performances of these policies have, over time, translated into the inability of Nigeria to exude necessary power required to exact respect and reciprocal gestures from other states. From these findings, we recommended, among others, that as complements, Nigeria’s foreign and defence policies should be reviewed objectively on economic and strategic considerations rather than on trivialities of Nigerian domestic environment. The Nigerian state should pursue an aggressive programme of nation-building, integration and political inclusion to achieve mental adjustment of its citizenry in order to break the barriers of ethnicity and sectional interests. Continued reliance on the present state of these policies will, in the near future, significantly diminish Nigeria’s power and influence required to deal with potential threats from African and extra-African states.

Authors

Read more