Factors That Influence The Formulation Of Nigeria's Foreign Policy

A thorough analysis of the factors affecting the formulation of Nigeria's foreign policy is necessary.

It is important to begin by understanding the context in which Nigeria's foreign policy has been shaped. Nigeria's 55 year of independence have been characterize by two main phases of either authoritarian military rule or Democratic transitional civilian rule, with all the attendant characteristics and contradiction that this involves.

 Both Internal (domestic) and external factors have conditioned  Nigeria's foreign policy formulation.Three main domestic factor have been identified as being the key determinant in Nigeria's  foreign policy formulation.

The first is the country's  ravaged and weak economy; second, the personality and character of Nigeria's leaders and their perceptions of how to nurse and  raise the economy; and third, the  issue of ethno -religious diversity in a federal context which more often than not makes consensus on the national issues difficult to achieve.

 While other domestic factors such as historical traditions, domestic  environment factors, organized vested interest and public opinion have impacted on Nigeria's foreign policy,  it can be said that the three major factors identified above are decisive in the Nigerian context.

  An indepth examination of foreign policy formulation during Nigeria's first phase of military rule (1966-1979); during the second Republic (1979-1983); during the second phase of military rule (1983-1998) ;and during the current period of democratic transition, demonstrates how successive administrations in Nigeria have in general shown a lack of sensitive and responsiveness to popular process.

As a result, foreign policy formulation in Nigeria tends to be elite and government -driven.

While Nigeria's immense potential is clear based on its demographic size of about 140 million people, its multi-ethnic population, it's vast oil reserves and its reservoir of highly skilled and educated people, the majority of its people remain poor with a per capita income of less than $500.

Likewise, while Nigeria has played an important role in international peacekeeping both under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) and economic community of West African States ceasefire monitoring group (ECOMOG),the country itself has been immersed in conflict either at the level of intra-elite power struggles OR identify conflicts within the context of its troubled federal experiment.

Thus, while Nigeria possesses the necessary potentials as well as instituted structures needed to formulate a vibrant foreign policy, its constraints lie in domestic factors, namely,the nature of foreign policy elite and Nigeria's economic dependence and vulnerability.