The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), on Thursday, tasked President Bola Tinubu’s administration to adopt a sound economic policy, as a fundamental pre-requisite for conducting effective foreign policy.
Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, Director-General, NIIA, said the economy was fundamental and central to foreign policy because the citizens’ satisfaction had domestic and external dimensions.
Osaghae made this known at a roundtable organised by NIIA with the theme, “Charting the Way Forward: Nigeria’s Foreign Policy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
The D-G said there had to be a strong nexus between the domestic environment and the demands on policies, and the external environment and the demands on policies.
According to him, the home base and capacities need to be strengthened in order to have an effective showing in the international arena.
“Economic diplomacy cannot be anything if the citizens’ well-being is not at the focus.
“In essence, we need economic drive and economic development to ensure the country doesn’t just prosper but all her citizens prosper and their material well being improves.”
Osaghae said that citizens needed to be healthy, literate, employed, sheltered, and have enough infrastructure, all of which depended on the strength of the economy.
“The obligations of the government to the citizens of the country is a the core of all we’re asking for.
“We need to build productive capacities within and in today’s globalized world, you cannot do that in isolation from the rest of the world.
“We need investments, greater entrepreneurship and all hands in deck. This is not the time to be a passerby or consumer but a time to put on your productive vest,” Osaghae said.
In his presentation, Dr Joshua Bolarinwa, Senior Research Fellow, NIIA, said it was imperative that Nigeria’s foreign policy be urgently reviewed and repackaged.
He said this was necessary in the light of the new challenges of the globalized world order, so as to make it more efficient and result oriented.
Bolarinwa’s paper examined Nigeria’s foreign policy with the view to assess and discuss its mixed and many challenges.
He noted that since all foreign policies spring from the economic base of a state, Nigeria’s economic base should be re-orientated in such a manner that the country’s dependency structure would be removed and a national economy capable of sustaining a realistic foreign policy goal be built.
According to Bolarinwa, it is politically logical that Nigeria matches her foreign policy with her real economic status, and not imaginary one.
He said that with the debt burden and crisis bugging the country, and with attendant appalling state of social infrastructure, it was time the foreign policy objectives be skewed in favour of economic determinism.
“It simply does not make sense for Nigeria to continue with her Spray Diplomacy while she still takes foreign loans. The need to de-personalize Nigeria’s foreign policy is urgent.”
Bolarinwa called for the democratization of the foreign policy making process, allowing citizen participation and input.
He recommended that the Foreign Affairs Ministry should be allowed to take charge of the formulation and execution of Nigeria’s foreign policy, and to take credit or blame for its failures and successes.
On his part, in order to move forward, the ministry should be freed from those who, from the outside, exercise authority over it without taking responsibility for their shortcomings.
“It is of great importance to strengthen the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with adequate staffing, funding and direction.
“The policy of influx of non-career ambassadors in the country’s foreign policy practice is demoralizing to the career Foreign Service officers, a good number of whom are denied their rightful aspirations to become ambassadors.
“This way, the wealth of experiences of the trained career diplomats are emptied of Nigeria’s Foreign Service operations,” he said.
