The idea that Nigeria’s foreign policy has been on the decline for nearly two decades has become axiomatic among scholars and analysts. Ever since former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who governed from 1999 to 2007, got the country out of diplomatic jail and back in the good graces of the international community, Abuja has lost its luster on the international stage.
On the surface, President Bola Tinubu, who took office in 2023, has extended this dreary run. In general, he has given the impression that foreign policy is not a primary concern of his administration. One of his first acts after becoming president was to recall all career and noncareer ambassadors in ostensible pursuit of what a presidential spokesperson described as “world-class efficiency” in Nigeria’s foreign service. Many of those posts remain empty today.
The idea that Nigeria’s foreign policy has been on the decline for nearly two decades has become axiomatic among scholars and analysts. Ever since former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who governed from 1999 to 2007, got the country out of diplomatic jail and back in the good graces of the international community, Abuja has lost its luster on the international stage.
On the surface, President Bola Tinubu, who took office in 2023, has extended this dreary run. In general, he has given the impression that foreign policy is not a primary concern of his administration. One of his first acts after becoming president was to recall all career and noncareer ambassadors in ostensible pursuit of what a presidential spokesperson described as “world-class efficiency” in Nigeria’s foreign service. Many of those posts remain empty today.
