Nigeria's foreign policy direction is currently difficult to define, despite the present administration's announcement of the 4D Foreign Policy Doctrine: Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora. These principles are admirable, but a doctrine cannot live by alliteration alone. The country's foreign policy should be reorganised around what is being called production diplomacy: a deliberate strategy for acquiring skills, transferring technology, building industries, expanding exports, and creating employment.
Historically, Nigeria has played an honourable role in the African struggle for liberation, devoting money, influence, and political capital to the liberation of Southern Africa. The country supported freedom fighters, offered scholarships to their children, and confronted powerful countries whose economic interests were tied to apartheid. However, Nigeria's current foreign policy direction is more difficult to define, and it is essential to reassess the country's approach to international relations.
At independence, Nigeria's Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and his Foreign Affairs Minister, Jaja Wachuku, established the foundations of Nigeria's external relations, focusing on African unity, peaceful coexistence, non-alignment, multilateralism, and opposition to colonialism and racial domination. Under General Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria helped establish the Economic Community of West African States, recognising that the country's security and prosperity were tied to those of its neighbours.
In later years, various Nigerian administrations have introduced different approaches to foreign policy, including the concentric-circles approach, intellectual boldness through initiatives like the Concert of Medium Powers, and economic diplomacy. However, these doctrines were not perfect, and their implementation was often inconsistent. Nevertheless, they represented identifiable ideas that Nigerians understood.
The great African struggle of the twentieth century was political liberation, but the great struggle of the twenty-first century is economic and technological liberation. Nigeria must again place itself at the head of that struggle. The country's foreign policy should focus on production diplomacy, with every Nigerian diplomatic mission having a national development mandate and measurable targets for training, technology transfer, investment, market access, and industrial partnerships.
To achieve this, Nigeria can learn from countries like China, which has demonstrated how millions of citizens can be integrated into production through industrial clusters, cottage manufacturing, shared facilities, and export networks. Nigeria should negotiate programmes to train young people in various skills and industries, including provisions for Nigerian apprenticeships, technology transfer, local production, and progressively increasing local content.
Ultimately, Nigeria's foreign policy should begin with two simple questions: What does Nigeria need, and which country has mastered it? By focusing on production diplomacy and acquiring skills, transferring technology, building industries, expanding exports, and creating employment, Nigeria can redefine its foreign policy direction and make it more meaningful to ordinary citizens.
Key points
- Nigeria's new foreign policy focus should be on production diplomacy, with a deliberate strategy for acquiring skills, transferring technology, and creating employment.
