Nigeria's inter-African relations: A study of continuity and change in Nigeria's African policy, 1960-1983

The purpose of this study is to identify the elements of change and continuity in Nigeria's Africa policy from 1960-1983, in order to examine the contention that 1975 marks the turning point of Nigeria's foreign policy. This study contends that though the style may have changed, the substance of Nigeria's foreign policy remains the same. The foreign policy of the Mohammed/Obasanjo administration (1975-1979) was simply an extension of Nigeria's earlier foreign policy posture and does not constitute a "new foreign policy" or a revolution. The theoretical framework for this study was based on the decision making approach in the study of international politics, using the operational environment model adapted from Michael Brecher. The operational environment comprises of the internal and external variable categories. The salient features of Nigeria's African policy intent and content under successive regimes during the period 1960-1983 were examined by considering major foreign policy issues such as (1) The Angolan Crisis, (2) The Southern Africa Problem, (3) The Nationalization of British Petroleum Assets, (4) The Economic Community of West African States, (5) The Crisis in Chad, and discerning principles that have shaped and conditioned Nigeria's Africa policy since 1960. From various experiences of the twenty-three years covered in this study, it is concluded that, as of 1983, the style and approach of the government in power greatly affected the policy process and its outcome. The military, throughout their thirteen years in government, did nothing to carry out their revolution beyond the familiar rhetoric of African politics and diplomacy. No national ideology emerged from their rule, with the result that they could hardly effect a change in the substance and pattern of Nigeria's foreign policy. Consequently, the military, particularly the Mohammed/Obasanjo regimes merely transformed the style of Nigeria's foreign policy but not the character of the Nigerian state.