-
An Appraisal Of Nigerian Foreign Policy Under The Goodluck Jonathan Administration (2011-2015)
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 2]
Page 2 of 2
-
-
-
The long military dictatorship
in Nigeria left a bad legacy of destroying the process of routinizing
foreign policy decision-making. According to Fawole (2003:235), the
military introduced their own style of decision making whereby the wish
of the dictator was law. This is unlike the civilian era where
government to some extent accountable to the people, and to the
parliament for their actions. Over the years, military rule made no
allowance for such accountability, and each dictator ran the country as
he deemed fit. A practical case was that of the late General SaniAbacha
whose foreign relations and policies were obviously a disaster having
been awash with series of diplomatic faux pax.Abacha dragged Nigeria’s
respect in the international comity of nations to the mud and turned the
country to a pariah state.
These issues made it understandable the
major reasons why Nigeria, over the years had passed through the problem
of undequal economic and social development, debt burden, internal
political and religious crises, low production, corruption, low income
per capita, insecurity, unemployment, high rate of infant mortality,
etc.
Given this verifiable link between the personality of a leader
and the health of a country’s socio-economic and political health, this
study appraises the Nigerian Foreign Policy under the Goodluck Jonathan
Admiistration between 2011 – 2015, with the aim of determining the
achievements and failures of the administration in the pursuit of the
country’s foreign policy goals as contained in the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Amended.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Chapter
2, Section 19 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria outlined the foreign policy objectives of Nigeria as thus:
The foreign policy objectives shall be ¬
(a) promotion and protection of the national interest;
(b) promotion of African integration and support for African unity;
(c)
promotion of international co-operation for the consolidation of
universal peace and mutual respect among all nations and elimination of
discrimination in all its manifestations;
(d) respect for
international law and treaty obligations as well as the seeking of
settlement of international disputes by negotiation, mediation,
conciliation, arbitration and adjudication; and
(e) promotion of a just world economic order.
Top
on the list of the foreign policy objectives is the promotion and
protection of the national interest which ostensibly include security
and economic development. Since independence, especially in the period
under review, and even today, Nigeria is plagued with problems of
insecurity epitomized by Boko Haram terrorism, armed robbery,
kidnapping, political and ritual killings; widespread poverty,
largescale unemployment, technological backwardness, decayed social and
physical infrastructure, illiteracy, reduced life expectancy, debt
crisis, political instability, etc.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 2]
Page 2 of 2
-
-
ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This study appraises the foreign policy thrust of Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, 2011 – 2015. It queries the contributions and failures of the administration in the economic development of Nigeria with the instrument of foreign policy. Guided by the Systems theory, and Pluralist interdependence model, it argues that though the administration made some achievements that it left much to be desired in the economic development of the country as the image of the country remained ba ... Continue reading---
