Now, we need a strong foreign policy direction

Does Nigeria have a foreign policy anymore? We may have had in the past-those that reflected the country’s leadership in West Africa as well as those that reflected the country’s strong leadership propensity about it’s place in the continent. Have we lost that-Nigeria’s days of glory as the captain of the sub-continent and indeed the continent-or the country’s leadership purposely went silent on propagating those set of objectives and principles that set the country apart from the rest of its peers?

I didn’t hear any mention of any foreign policy thrust or I haven’t heard anything passionate about those principles in the past eight years and I haven’t seen anything in recent times to suggest strongly that the country will from the inauguration of the next government, dust up it’s bruised and, should I say, tarnished international ego. What I see is a hazy line between domestic politics and foreign policy-no strong, clear policy mantras to help lift the country out of it’s cracked and damaged international standing and most of its key foreign relationships. Even the simple, basic and known principles such as multi-lateral diplomacy and the promotion of international cooperation seem to have disappeared in the Nigeria’s diplomatic diction.

“Obama did not come to Nigeria but went to Ghana instead”-the kind of snub the country received from the US and Europe in the past 16 years. That includes the big gaffe ‘phone diplomacy’ with the Moroccan monarch, which left the country looking like a rudderless captain. The government remedy was even more appalling-nobody took responsibility to explain to Nigerians nor the international community what went wrong, where it went wrong and how it could have been resolved. All of that type of inaction and gaffe brought further strains to the country with the rest of the world.

The most recent ‘gaffe’-pardon my frequent use of this word-is the incoherent approach to the coalition helping to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in the North. It was particularly appalling to see Nigeria struggling to provide leadership and cohesion. The result is a decentralized approach which left the ‘helping’ countries to take responsibility for their borders and only on few occasions dabbled beyond, into Nigeria. Remember, the initial useful offensive against the sect was by Niger Republic not Nigeria. This again underscores the bad diplomatic credit for Nigeria.

The response to the news that Boko Haram was now affiliated to Islamic State (ISIS) could best be described as ignorance. While countries that understand the implication responded with tougher domestic surveillance and security precaution, the entire rhetoric center on just the defeat of Boko haram, not the larger threat of the affiliation with ISIS. The talk of defeating the sect only resonates politically and within the country only. The talk of ‘affiliation’ is viewed seriously beyond the shores of the country and the country’s neighbours must be wondering whether Nigeria understands the larger implication.

The leadership of the nation in the past 16 years also compounded disdain on Nigeria with the stain and strings of corruption allegations dripping down from the Presidency to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)of government-all of which at all times had dealings with the diplomatic community. The ‘leadership’ always gave some incomprehensible excuses why no one should be held to account. The errors in the attempt to rebrand the country some 5-6 years ago reflected the over all insensitivity to the credibility of the name, Nigeria, as a brand. That too had serious ramifications on Nigeria diplomatic credit with the rest of the world-which ultimately sank even lower into the gutters of disdain.

All of these have left the country looking neither reactive nor proactive in foreign affairs. It is unclear what it wants its neighbours to do in the face of Boko Haram or ISIS. It is not pushing closer economic and strategic linkages with the United States (countries with huge terror expertise). Its defense ties with Great Britain has considerably waned-Remember, no Western nation was readily willing to supply arms to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram. The countries military has no ‘very close’ integration with the US or Britain or Japan or any of its neighbours.

I could go on and on with the non military diplomatic failures but it is important that Nigeria, particularly with an incoming government, face the reality that the country’s national interest requires it to find, maintain and where necessary strengthen relationship with allies for obvious positive reasons.