An Evaluation of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and National Interest since Independence

Abstract

The main focus of this research is an evaluation of Nigeria’s foreign policy and national interest since independence. This essay therefore, is another contribution of the debates about national interest being a content of Nigeria’s foreign policy. This paper surveyed the foreign policies of successive administrations or regimes in Nigeria with a view of establishing if Nigeria’s foreign policies of these regimes reflect national interest. The principles of good neighbourliness and Afrocentricism have dominated Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives which have a number of benefits to the country. The friendly relations Nigeria enjoys with her
neighbours will boost or guarantee national security for the country. National prestige is equally a national interest that Nigeria foreign policy targets. The essay therefore argued that, Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives from independence to date as pursued by each regime show no compromise or negation of objectives of national interest, but rather the desire and efforts to fulfill them. The paper also suggested that, national interest should guide the formulation and execution of foreign policy of any state, as foreign policy is seen as the domestic objectives projected to the external environment. The paper primarily made use of secondary and tertiary sources of generating data. The paper adopted the realist theory as the framework for the analysis in this discourse.