By SOLA ENIKANOLAIYE
In an era defined by geopolitical competition, trade wars, sanctions regimes, and shifting alliances, one phrase has migrated from European policy papers to the heart of African diplomacy: “Strategic Autonomy”.
For Nigeria, this is not a new experiment in isolation, nor is it a nostalgic return to Cold War non-alignment. As I outlined in a recent address from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, it is something far more direct and more urgent. Strategic autonomy is alignment to Nigerian national interest. Once you are clear in what constitutes your national interest, you align with those interests regardless of which party is at the receiving end. That is the foundation. I am aware of scholarly publications that was recently put together by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on the subject.
While the Ministry prepares the full concept note charting new fronts in a multi polar world, let me share the preliminary framework guiding Nigeria’s foreign policy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Our goal is simple: to ensure that Nigeria, and by extension Africa, is not an object of geopolitics, but a subject that defines its own future.
What Strategic Autonomy means for Nigeria and Africa.
