The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, has said Nigeria must first become economically resilient, secure and stable before it can effectively reclaim its leadership position in Africa and exert greater influence globally.
Speaking at the launch of “Shadows of Power”, a book authored by retired Rear Admiral Sola Oluwagbire in Abuja on Thursday, the minister stressed that President Bola Tinubu’s reforms were aimed at strengthening the country’s domestic foundations as a prerequisite for a more dynamic foreign policy.
“You cannot have a dynamic and activist foreign policy if the home is weak, if the country is disunited, if there is no harmony in Nigeria. How can you go outside and be taken seriously?” he said.
The minister noted that while Nigeria remained committed to its traditional role in Africa, national stability and prosperity must come first.
“We believe that these objectives are mutually reinforcing. Nigeria has to be secure, we have to be stable before we can even play that activist role in foreign policy that traditionally we regarded as having played in the liberation struggle and other continental engagements,” he said.
