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WEEK: 8
TOPIC: NIGERIA AND THE WORLD – The Inter-dependence of Nations and Globalization:
CONTENT: (a) Inter-dependence of nations. (b) Community of nations. (c) Purpose of interaction. (d) Nigeria’s interaction; (i) Economic (ii) Political (iii) Social-Cultural. (d) Merits and demerits.
- SUB – TOPIC 1: Community of Nations.
Nigeria as a member of global international community cannot operate successfully without relating with the rest of the world. This is born out of the fact that no country of the world can exist in isolation of the rest and no nation can produce all their needs or desire. Therefore interaction is necessary phenomenon because of the mutual benefits from such exercise. For this purpose like other countries of the world, Nigeria established Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates abroad to protect the interests of the country in other countries just as other countries have theirs in Nigeria.
A 1989 publication by the Federal Military Government, Four Years of the Babangida Administration, summarized the priority issues of Nigerian foreign policy: the abolition of apartheid in South Africa; the enhancement of Nigeria’s relations with member countries of the European Economic Community (EEC), the United States, the Soviet Union, and with other major industrialized countries to increase the flow of foreign investments and capital into Nigeria; and continued support for international organizations, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Relations with other African states constituted the cornerstone of Nigerian foreign policy.
The Ministry of External Affairs was directly responsible for foreign policy formulation and implementation. Because matters were usually left in the hands of the minister and his officials, foreign policy positions could change radically from one minister to another, depending on the minister’s orientation. In addition to the minister’s immediate staff, there was a small foreign policy elite comprising other top government officials, interest group leaders, academicians, top military officers, religious leaders, and journalists. This elite exerted indirect influence through communiqués and press releases, as well as direct pressure on the government. In 1986 a conference–to which every stratum of these elite was invited–was held to review Nigeria’s foreign policy and recommend broad policy frameworks for the 1990s and beyond.
Several factors conditioned Nigeria’s foreign policy positions. First, the ethnic and religious mix of the country required cautious positions on some issues, such as policy toward Israel. Nigeria found it difficult to restore diplomatic ties with Israel and had not done so as of 1990 because of Muslim opposition and sympathy with the rest of the Arab Muslim world. Second, Nigeria’s legacy as an ex-British colony, combined with its energy-producing role in the global economy, predisposed Nigeria to be pro-
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