NIGERIAN PAST GOVERNMENTS AND THE REST OF AFRICA
Nigeria has pursued a foreign policy that revolves around the national
interest, West Africa sub-region, the African continent and the rest of the world. From independence to date the foreign policy of Nigeria has come in different colour but with the same aims and objectives, the
implementation of her foreign policy under different government has not been easy, like I stated somewhere in this work, the implementation has been carried out under eight military administrations and four civilian administrations.
Under the Balewa’s
administration, the implementation was not so efficient, it was pro-west and British, a good example of this statement was the defence pact that was signed with British, the foreign policy was conservative in Balewa’s era’. The Murtala/ Obasanjo period was a very militant one in the implementation of Nigerian’s foreign policy, but very unfortunately they did not stay long in power, but the Shagari’s government that follows adapted the project that the Murtala/ Obasanjo administration could not complete and added such achievement as the Zimbabwean independence in 1980, that of Angola’s and Namibia, the diplomatic resolution of the Nigerian/ Cameroon border issue. The Abacha’s government did not help the foreign policy of Nigeria, he had little or no contact with the outside world, and back home things were not so good for him, there was massive killings and arrest, Nigeria was suspended from the Common Wealth of Nations, she was banned from playing in the Nations cup finals in Bokinafaso, because the administration did not allowed the Green Eagles play in the Nations cup hosted by South Africa, because of his bad administration, different kind of sanctions were placed on Nigeria.
The present administration is trying to redeem the battered image of the country and also diffuse the tension in the country, he has boost the power generation in the country, the country has been readmitted in to the fold of the Common Wealth of Nations, currently president Obasanjo is the chairman of AU, he was the chairman of ECOWAS, he hosted the American president Billy Clinton, and he is playing a great role in the conflict resolutions in Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia.