The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, has said Nigeria must first achieve economic resilience, security and political stability before it can effectively reclaim its leadership role in Africa and project greater influence globally.
The minister stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the launch of Shadows of Power, a book authored by retired Rear Admiral Sola Oluwagbire.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu’s reforms are aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s domestic foundations as a prerequisite for a more dynamic and effective 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?” Enikanolaiye said.
He explained that the Federal Government had adopted a “Nigeria First” doctrine that places the interests, security and welfare of Nigerians at the centre of the country’s diplomatic engagements.
The minister said the administration had also recalibrated Nigeria’s foreign policy by prioritising relations with neighbouring countries, noting that the country’s security and prosperity were closely linked to developments within the sub-region.
He stressed that the government had not abandoned Africa as the cornerstone of Nigeria’s foreign policy but was repositioning its diplomatic engagements to address pressing domestic priorities.
Enikanolaiye also said Nigeria would continue to pursue strategic autonomy by aligning its international relations with national interests rather than ideological considerations.
He noted that while Nigeria maintained strong ties with Western nations, it would also deepen relations with countries such as China, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Brazil in pursuit of its national interest.
The minister defended the government’s renewed security and defence cooperation with the United States and other Western allies, describing it as a reinvigoration of existing partnerships to tackle Nigeria’s current security challenges.
He expressed confidence that Nigeria remained on the path to regaining its international influence, adding that reforms were underway to strengthen the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through improved professionalism, institutional capacity and merit-based postings.
Speaking earlier, the author of the book, retired Rear Admiral Sola Oluwagbire, said the publication examined how Nigeria’s relationships with major global powers had shaped the country’s national security and foreign policy objectives.
