Based on the minister, the present order has been unfavourable to African international locations and has not supplied a stage taking part in area for Africa.
The Minister of International Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, says Africa has a novel alternative to learn from the shifting world steadiness of energy.
He made this assertion on Thursday throughout the inauguration session of the Agora Coverage Discussion board, held in Abuja.
Based on the minister, the present order has been unfavourable to African international locations and has not supplied a stage taking part in area for the continent.
Nevertheless, with Russia and China driving a shift towards a multipolar world, he emphasised that Africa should strategically place itself to benefit from the altering world panorama.
“We see the present order deconstructing. It was an order that didn’t current a stage taking part in area for Nigeria and Africa, by way of entry to financing and markets and the instruments to facilitate peace, prosperity and alternative. As that order breaks down, what follows is way much less clear,” he mentioned.
Mr Tuggar additionally mentioned Nigeria, because the area’s key energy, should actively assist create a contemporary and dynamic order that displays its nationwide and shared pursuits.
“The accountability is essentially diplomatic: securitisation shifts considering from strategic to tactical, to a discount within the area for dialogue, compromise and manoeuvre,” he mentioned. “Safety greater than ever tilts in the direction of {hardware} and know-how. Diplomacy at its greatest is a really human technique of interplay.”
“There are moments when diplomatic routes have failed, and the nationwide curiosity have to be defended by power. However sequencing is every part. Lives and livelihoods depend upon it,” he added.
An evolving international coverage for Nigeria
PREMIUM TIMES reviews that Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and likewise has the biggest financial system within the area. Nigeria has thus anchored its international coverage on taking part in management roles in Africa the place it has led growth and stabilisation initiatives in international locations like Liberia and Sierra Leone.
On Thursday, the minister said that though Nigeria’s international coverage has historically been anchored on Africa as its centrepiece, the ideas should evolve to mirror altering realities.
He declared that as world energy shifts towards multi-polarity, Nigeria is targeted on better strategic autonomy in its worldwide engagements.
“We’re strengthening our bilateral relations with rising powers like China, India, and Brazil whereas sustaining constructive partnerships with the US, the European Union, and conventional allies.
“We goal to make sure that Nigeria will not be merely a passive actor in world affairs however an lively shaper of outcomes that align with our nationwide pursuits.”
He additionally said that the nation is priortising financial diplomacy to draw international funding, enhance commerce, and safe growth financing.
“The implementation of the African Continental Free Commerce Space (Afcfta) presents a novel alternative for Nigeria to consolidate its place as a regional financial hub,” he mentioned.
He additional urged Nigeria to deal with evidence-based policymaking and a dedication to each nationwide and continental development.
Mr Tuggar mentioned, “A nation’s international coverage is simply as agency because the mental and strategic framework that underpins it.”
BELOW IS THE FULL SPEECH BY MINISTER TUGGAR AT THE EVENT.
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Speech by the Honourable Minister of International Affairs of Nigeria, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (OON), on the Inaugural Session of the Agora Coverage Discussion board Nigeria’s International Coverage at a Time of World Uncertainty. seventeenth April 2025.Title: Nigeria’s International Coverage at a Time of World Uncertainty
Distinguished Visitors, Eminent Students, Coverage Makers, and Members of the Diplomatic Group,
I’m honoured to deal with this distinguished gathering on the Agora Coverage Discussion board, a platform that fosters dialogue on coverage imperatives for nationwide and world progress. In the present day, I’ll converse on Nigeria’s International Coverage at a Time of World Uncertainty, which has profound implications for Nigeria, Africa, and the broader worldwide system.
We’re gathered right here at a time when the worldwide order is present process important transformation. Geopolitical tensions, financial realignments, each day tariffs and commerce wars, safety threats, local weather change, and technological disruptions are reshaping the worldwide panorama in ways in which demand strategic recalibration from all nations. Conventional assumptions about democracy and markets are being questioned by state and non-state actors. As Africa’s most populous nation and a key financial and diplomatic actor, Nigeria should defend and promote our values and dedication to democratic freedoms and the celebration of variety, as we navigate these new complexities with foresight, pragmatism, and resilience.
First, I’ll define how we perceive the worldwide context and the way it shapes our diplomacy. I’ll then define the foundational ideas of our international coverage.
Lastly, I’ll mirror on the broader tasks all of us share to develop and implement a diplomacy match for goal in a world the place uncertainties too typically appear to masks extra hidden alternatives.
I The World Context: An Period of Uncertainty and Multipolarity
The post-Chilly Warfare consensus that formed world governance for the previous three many years is more and more fracturing. The resurgence of nice energy competitors, the fragmentation of multilateralism, and the proliferation of regional conflicts have created a extra unpredictable world than ever in our post-independence historical past.
The struggle in Ukraine has reshaped vitality markets, disrupted provide chains, and exacerbated meals insecurity, notably for growing economies like ours.
Battle in Sudan and the Sahel has illustrated the boundaries of the previous rules-based order, as new state and non-state actors flex affect in areas of continual instability.
The worldwide financial system is experiencing persistent inflationary pressures, debt crises in rising markets, and a reconfiguration of commerce partnerships.
The rise of recent applied sciences, from synthetic intelligence to digital currencies, introduces alternatives and challenges for financial governance and nationwide safety.
Local weather change continues to pose an existential menace, with Africa disproportionately affected, regardless of contributing the least to world emissions.
On this context, Nigeria’s international coverage have to be dynamic. It should be certain that our nationwide pursuits are protected whereas we stay a accountable and engaged member of the worldwide group. And above all, international coverage have to be environment friendly. If diplomacy is struggle by different means, the horrible prices of battle should a minimum of partially be a measure of diplomatic failure. We should always spend money on capability and exhaust all accessible avenues, as a result of the alternate options are a lot worse. In that sense, the triumph of diplomacy ought to be measured as a lot by what we don’t see, what we will keep away from, and what we do see. To take examples from our historical past: we nonetheless reference – and rightly so – the sacrifice Nigeria made in Liberia and Sierra Leone within the Nineteen Nineties, however not a lot the efforts, by public diplomacy, again channels, direct engagement, third-party involvement, the balancing of precept with sensible element – all tips within the diplomatic toolbox – that led to the switch of energy in Gambia and not using a drop of blood spilt.
Tragedies averted are extra simply forgotten than sacrifices made. For that reason, with defence budgets escalating all over the world, we have to be reminded, even in a transactional world, that diplomacy ought to take the lead. It’s all the time higher to speak. We don’t all the time ship good outcomes, particularly the place these areas of widespread curiosity and good religion are slender, the place one facet might face specific native pressures that trump what partnership would possibly ship. Life like outcomes are formed by practical expectations.
We see the present order deconstructing. It was an order that didn’t current a stage taking part in area for Nigeria and Africa, by way of entry to financing and markets and the instruments to facilitate peace, prosperity and alternative. As that order breaks down, what follows is way much less clear.
It’s our accountability, because the area’s key energy, to be a voice for Africa – to play our half in serving to create a contemporary and dynamic order that displays our nationwide and shared pursuits.
And that accountability is essentially diplomatic: securitisation shifts considering from strategic to tactical, to a discount within the area for dialogue, compromise and manoeuvre. Safety greater than ever tilts in the direction of {hardware} and know-how. Diplomacy at its greatest is a really human technique of interplay. After all, a powerful defence functionality and the unstated jeopardy it carries could be important property in negotiation, and there are moments when diplomatic routes have failed that the nationwide curiosity have to be defended by power. However sequencing is every part. Lives and livelihoods depend upon it.
II. Core Pillars of Nigeria’s International Coverage within the Modern Period
Nigeria’s international coverage has historically been anchored on Africa because the centerpiece, supported by non-alignment, financial diplomacy, and world multilateralism. Whereas these ideas stay related, they need to evolve to mirror the realities of our time. I’ll define 4 strategic pillars that outline Nigeria’s international coverage strategy on this interval of worldwide uncertainty.
1. Strategic Autonomy in a Multipolar World
As world energy shifts towards multipolarity, Nigeria should assert better strategic autonomy in its worldwide engagements. We’re strengthening our bilateral relations with rising powers like China, India, and Brazil whereas sustaining constructive partnerships with the US, the European Union, and conventional allies. We goal to make sure that Nigeria will not be merely a passive actor in world affairs however an lively shaper of outcomes that align with our nationwide pursuits.
2. Financial Diplomacy and Sustainable Improvement
With the rising volatility in world markets, Nigeria is prioritizing financial diplomacy to draw international funding, improve commerce partnerships, and safe growth financing. The implementation of the African Continental Free Commerce Space (Afcfta) presents a novel alternative for Nigeria to consolidate its place as a regional financial hub.
An vital living proof, particularly concerning diversification and the creation of recent markets, is the Trans-Saharan gasoline pipeline (TSGP; often known as the NIGAL pipeline and the Trans-African gasoline pipeline). The mission is a deliberate pure gasoline pipeline from Nigeria to Algeria. The Nigeria-Morocco Fuel Pipeline (NMGP) is a proposed 5,660 km lengthy pipeline mission that goals to move pure gasoline from Nigeria to Morocco, probably connecting to the European gasoline community by way of the Maghreb-Europe Fuel Pipeline. Each tasks current a novel alternative to diversify Europe’s gasoline provides – and characterize potent bodily symbols of Nigeria’s place in a brand new worldwide order.
Past commerce, financial diversification stays a core precedence. To cut back overreliance on hydrocarbon revenues, we’re deepening engagement with world companions in renewable vitality, know-how switch, and industrialization. Financial diplomacy is not only about funding flows; it’s about making certain that Nigeria is well-positioned to learn from rising world worth chains.
3. Safety and Regional Stability
Nigeria’s safety challenges, notably terrorism, banditry, and piracy, can’t be addressed in isolation. Our international coverage acknowledges the transnational nature of safety threats, necessitating a strong regional and worldwide strategy.
· By ECOWAS, we’ve got spearheaded initiatives to counter army takeovers and help democratic consolidation in West Africa.
· The Multinational Joint Process Power (MNJTF) stays a vital mechanism in our struggle towards terrorism and insurgency within the Lake Chad Basin. MNJTF is a transparent instance of a homegrown African answer to an African downside that different companions can key into. With the right framing and most popular options, such an strategy is invariably simpler than exogenous methods from overseas.
· Maritime safety within the Gulf of Guinea has been considerably enhanced by Nigeria’s Deep Blue Mission and regional coordination with the African Union and worldwide companions. Underneath the Tinubu administration, no single piracy incident has occurred in Nigeria’s territorial waters. Safer sea routes imply decrease delivery and insurance coverage prices, which in flip increase trade, jobs, and alternatives.
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At a time when world safety alliances are shifting, Nigeria will proceed to strengthen its defence diplomacy, intelligence-sharing mechanisms, and peacekeeping contributions to advertise regional and worldwide stability.
The world wants a militarily sturdy Nigeria to maintain our area and the African continent protected. The prevailing pay-as-you-go strategy to weapons programs requires that Nigeria domesticates manufacturing with the assistance of keen companions. This requires deft diplomacy and diplomatic nous, which the Tinubu administration is deploying by way of the 4-D.
4. Multilateralism and Nigeria’s World Voice
In an period of straining multilateralism, Nigeria stays dedicated to strengthening world establishments to make sure they’re extra inclusive and aware of the wants of growing international locations.
· Nigeria continues to advocate for UN Safety Council reform, calling for everlasting African illustration to mirror up to date world realities.
· Our participation in boards such because the G77, BRICS+, and the Commonwealth ensures that we champion the pursuits of the World South in commerce, local weather negotiations, and monetary governance.
· Local weather diplomacy is a key precedence as Nigeria pushes for a simply transition that secures local weather financing for African nations and promotes inexperienced industrialization.
Multilateral engagement will not be merely about diplomacy–it is about leveraging collective motion to deal with challenges that no nation can deal with, from pandemics to cyber threats.
III. Nigeria’s International Coverage and the Position of Thought Management
A nation’s international coverage is simply as agency because the mental and strategic framework that underpins it. That is why fora such because the Agora Coverage Roundtable are invaluable. Policymakers, students, and trade leaders should collaborate to supply thought management that informs our diplomatic selections.
Nigeria should stay proactive, adaptive, and revolutionary in its international engagements because it navigates world uncertainty. Proof-based policymaking, a long-term imaginative and prescient, and a dedication to nationwide and continental development should underpin our technique.
IV. Conclusion: A Name for Collective Motion
Distinguished visitors, Nigeria’s international coverage throughout a time of worldwide uncertainty will not be merely about responding to exterior pressures but additionally about shaping our future inside the worldwide order. It’s about making certain that our financial system is resilient, our safety is safeguarded, and our voice is amplified in world decision-making.
As we glance to the long run, I urge all stakeholders, diplomats, teachers, enterprise leaders, and civil society to play their half in strengthening Nigeria’s world standing. The duty is complicated, however with strategic foresight and nationwide unity, we are going to place Nigeria as a formidable power within the evolving worldwide system.
I thanks in your consideration and look ahead to a strong dialogue.
Amb. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (OON)Hon. Minister of International AffairsFederal Republic of Nigeria
