Briefing Paper

Nigeria’s Continental Diplomatic Thrusts: the Limits of Africa’s Nominally Biggest Economy

“A dominant portion of contemporary literature on Nigeria’s regional and
continental diplomacies suggests that the foreign policies of Africa’s nominally biggest economy are hardly progressive and dynamic, due principally to the perverse hiatus between its domestic ecology and foreign policy. Many African countries do not know exactly what Abuja wants; worse,
she herself does not appear to know. Nigeria needs to move quickly to put her
domestic house in order, beginning with addressing corruption and stemming
the Islamist Boko Haram terrorist movement. To do so, she needs strong leaders to build a strong economy and strong institutions; drive clean government at home; and recover national interest-propelled and activist foreign policies.”