Nigerian Foreign Policy under Military Rule, 1966-1999

Hegemonic order and regional stability in Sub-Saharan Africa : a comparative study of Nigeria and South Africa.

Abstract: .......................................................................................xi TABLE OF CONTENT.........................................................................xii TABLES/FIGURES...........................................................................xix CHAPTER ONE..................................................................................

Sufism in Northern Nigeria: Force for counter-radicalization?

Abstract: : In light of the ongoing threats issued by Al Qaeda against the United States and its allies, the need to prevent the radicalization of young Muslim men and women remains as pressing as ever. Perhaps nowhere is this task more urgent than in the countries of West Africa. The global expanse of the ongoing war on terror places these territories in the frontline. With large Muslim populations that have hitherto remained mostly impervious to the advances of Islamism, the challenge now confronting the Nigerian government and the international community is ensuring that this remains the case. But in recent years, Islamist groups have been highly active in the region. The aim of this monograph is to assess the potential of Nigeria's Sufi Brotherhoods to act, both individually and collectively, as a force for counter-radicalization, to prevent young people from joining Islamist groups.1 To achieve this goal, the monograph is divided into four main parts. The first considers U.S. strategic interests in Nigeria. It argues that most of these interests have some sort of security dimension relating to either oil, terrorism, the safety of shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, or the peace and stability of West Africa. In particular, it notes that as the region's key actor, Nigeria can be a vector of either stability or volatility. As such, it is incumbent upon the United States to try to ensure that the country remains as stable as possible.

Multilateralism and the hegemonic posture of a regional power: A case study of Nigeria, 1960-2015

Abstract: This study examines Nigeria’s multilateral policy vis-a-vis its hegemonic position in Africa since 1960. It evaluates the extent to which Nigeria can be considered a re-gional hegemon in Africa and how such hegemonic status has been pursued through multilateral institutions. Thus, the study identifies those areas where Nigeria has demonstrated its hegemonic roles in multilateral institutions. The study employs qualitative method of data collection and found that Hegemonic Stability Theory, Regional Security Complex Theory and Role Theory are the most suitable of all the-ories that can adequately explain Nigeria’s multilateral policy in relation to its re-gional hegemonic posture in Africa. This is discovered through triangulation of qual-itative data sources which included semi-structured interviews, focus-group inter-views, elite interviews, documentary analysis, archival sources, speeches, reports, journal articles, textbooks, and newspapers. The study shows that Nigeria dominated African political terrain through the following roles: decolonisation, dismantling of apartheid regimes in southern African countries, capacity building, peacekeeping, democracy promotion and financing the regional multilateral organisations. Thus, in achieving the aforementioned, the study shows that there are external and internal factors that dictated Nigeria’s multilateral policy since independence. Some of the factors identified by the study are security, economics, neighbours, extra-African powers, geography, military preponderance, population and financial capability. This study also evaluates the multilateral policy of Nigeria and discovered there are areas where success has been recorded while there are also some aspects where failure has been noted. The historical overview of the post-independent Nigerian foreign policy suggests that Nigeria’s multilateral policy received a boost in the 1970s under Gen-eral Gowon and General Olusegun Obasanjo. This was as a result of the civil war that ravaged the country for three years (1967-70). Overall, the study has contributed to intellectual debates on the role of regional power in regional governance. It has also shed light on the exercising of hegemonic role at regional level through multilat-eralism. For further research agenda, the study recommends there is need to employ unilateralism and bilateralism in the foreign policy of Nigeria to study the country’s regional hegemonic posture in Africa.

From Freetown to Kinshasa: Reassessing Nigeria and South Africa’s Foreign Policy Behaviour and Conflict Intervention Roles in Africa

Abstract: .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of

Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra civil war, 1967–70

Abstract: The Biafran secession of 1967 and ensuing civil war presented Israel with an acute dilemma. Israel sought to maintain correct relations with the Federal Government of Nigeria, which viewed as a hostile act any support rendered to the Biafran separatists. At the same time, the plight of the Igbos reminded many Israelis of the Holocaust. This article makes use of Israeli archival material to shed new light on how Israel shaped its policy towards the conflict. The Israeli public, press and parliament called for assistance to Biafra, evoking their country's deep moral obligation to help a people in distress. Israel aided Biafra, including, in a clandestine manner, the supply of weapons for which the secessionists pressed, in addition to humanitarian assistance. At the same time, Israel also sold arms to Nigeria, seeking to prevent a diplomatic rupture with the Lagos government that would have affected Israel's position in all of black Africa.