Steve Itugbu, for many years a foreign policy aide to Obasanjo, draws on an extensive corpus of official documents, interviews, unpublished material and first-hand experience to explore the president's multi-faceted personality in depth. In so doing, Itugbu demonstrates that Nigeria's foreign policy has suffered through a combination of personalisation - that is subjugation to the will of Obasanjo - and the failings of bureaucratic structures. The book focuses specifically on Nigeria's decision not to intervene in Darfur in 2004, which is shown to be attributable to Obasanjo's politicking and inherent focus on shoring up his own position. Ultimately, an important opportunity for the African Union to set a precedent for humanitarian intervention was missed - a pattern which has since repeated itself across Africa. Such personalisation is common in the region, and the book therefore acts as a case study for better understanding the problems facing foreign policy making, diplomacy and leadership in Africa. Throughout, Itugbu provides a reasoned and thorough analysis of the complex and interconnected issues facing Nigeria and Africa today, and the prospects of resolving these in the future. This behind-the-scenes account of the mechanics of Nigerian foreign policy is essential reading for all students, researchers and policy makers working on Africa.
Steve Itugbu, for many years a foreign policy aide to Obasanjo, draws on an extensive corpus of official documents, interviews, unpublished material and first-hand experience to explore the president's multi-faceted personality in depth. In so doing, Itugbu demonstrates that Nigeria's foreign policy has suffered through a combination of personalisation - that is subjugation to the will of Obasanjo - and the failings of bureaucratic structures. The book focuses specifically on Nigeria's decision not to intervene in Darfur in 2004, which is shown to be attributable to Obasanjo's politicking and inherent focus on shoring up his own position. Ultimately, an important opportunity for the African Union to set a precedent for humanitarian intervention was missed - a pattern which has since repeated itself across Africa. Such personalisation is common in the region, and the book therefore acts as a case study for better understanding the problems facing foreign policy making, diplomacy and leadership in Africa. Throughout, Itugbu provides a reasoned and thorough analysis of the complex and interconnected issues facing Nigeria and Africa today, and the prospects of resolving these in the future. This behind-the-scenes account of the mechanics of Nigerian foreign policy is essential reading for all students, researchers and policy makers working on Africa.
Nigeria, the United States’ most important strategic partner in West Africa, is in grave trouble. While Nigerians often claim they are masters of dancing on the brink without falling off, the disastrous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, the radical Islamic insurrection Boko Haram, and escalating violence in the delta and the north may finally provide the impetus that pushes it into the abyss of state failure. In this thoroughly updated edition, John Campbellexplores Nigeria’s post-colonial history and presents a nuanced explanation of the events and conditions that have carried this complex, dynamic, and very troubled giant to the edge. Central to his analysis are the oil wealth, endemic corruption, and elite competition that have undermined Nigeria’s nascent democratic institutions and alienated an increasingly impoverished population. However, state failure is not inevitable, nor is it in the interest of the United States. Campbell provides concrete new policy options that would not only allow the United States to help Nigeria avoid state failure but also to play a positive role in Nigeria’s political, social, and economic development.
"Gulliver's Troubles offers the first comprehensive assessment of the post-Cold War foreign policy of Nigeria - one of Africa's most important states. Expert contributors, comprising academics and scholar-diplomats, analyse Nigeria's most vital domestic challenges and critical regional issues from historical and contemporary perspectives. Nigeria's relations with its neighbours and other significant states and regional and international bodies also come under scrutiny. The debates here, while multi-faceted, share the premise that an effective foreign policy must be built on a sound domestic base and democratic stability."--BOOK JACKET.
The main theme of this book is to provide a critical analysis of the "Nigerian dependent management and leadership development in the post world war II colonial Nigeria". (1945-to-1960) and beyond, using foreign fi rms-global/multinational and transnational corporations; U.A.C., SHELL, NNPC and OPEC. All these foreign fi rms have their parent companies resided in their foreign countries of origin (advanced metropolis) and have their subsidiaries or peripheries all over the global communities of under¬developed and developing economies. Paradoxically, the book was generated by on-going political, economic concern and controversy with the fate of the struggle and quest for economic liberation in the third world-under-developed and developing countries of Africa, with direct specifi c studies of the "Nigeria dependent management and leadership development", predates, from 'pre and post' colonial era of the British colonial rule in Nigeria. The book further focuses, elicits and elucidates the third world dependent development. International Political Economy and Global/Multinational-Transnational Corporations, economic and political roles in Nigeria's 'agricultural and oil' base economic factors, by using Nigeria raw materials/natural resources to produce into fi nished products. The profi ts maximization, surpluses and heavy taxation realized through levied and derived from the genesis of the raw materials, making it into complete fi nished products, from the subsidiary country Nigeria, by the British global/multinational corporations of (U.A.C.) the United Africa Company, on the poor peasantry/farmers were been appropriated, expropriated back to the U.A.C's parent company in the United Kingdom's ministry of food and supply. The other raw materials/natural resources of the crude petroleum/oil manufacturing economy were been monopolized by the "SHELL" Oil Royal Dutch of Netherlands and British "SHELL" post emerged, based on the concession signed in Britain, as the British government during colonial rule in Nigeria discovered crude oil segments deposits, in the today's south-south at Oloibiri in 1956, province/region in the today, south-south of eastern Nigeria. The "NNPC" the Nigeria indigenous oil transnational corporation, represented the Nigeria federal government crude oil reserve ownership of 55 % (in a shared venture, with "SHELL" British Petroleum and her partner of the Netherland Royal Dutch Oil Co-"SHELL"- "SHELL" owned 30 %) and profi ts made by "SHELL" was transferred to the "SHELL" parent oil Co, Headquarters at Hague, Netherland; Finally, the "OPEC" relationship with Nigeria, and the world oil market, emerged as the oil giant (developing oil organization) permanent inter-governmental organization, seemed competitively world oil organization, bailed out the global oil community in terms of world oil market stock exchange crashes and recessions; global oil gluts, oil embargos, regional civil wars and unrest threatened "OPEC" oil production, intercepts in bailing out the global oil community, via by optimal production and supplies was apparent in "OPEC" sustainability growth and reinforce the world oil market business continuity. "OPEC" main theme was apparently formed to stabilize and fi x oil prices, amongst the member 12 oil producing and exporting countries from the third world. Assist the member oil producer member countries to produce oil in a quota basis system to prevent any oil price manipulations, intimidations, exploitative mechanism of oil sales malpractices and price anomalies.
This book argues that the structure of the policy-making process in Nigeria explains variations in government performance better than other commonly cited factors.
This edited collection is the product of a National Research Working Group (NRWG) established by Said Adejumobi and supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). It analyzes the progress made in Nigeria since the return to democratic rule in 1999 and the prospects of democratic consolidation in the country.
The past few years have been very traumatic ones for many Nigerians. With the exception of those in power or close to the seat of power, the changes of 1998 were a welcome relief given the tyranny and repression that the country had suffered under General Abacha. With many people in prison and more in exile, the death of Abacha was received with a sigh of relief. Many observers have seen the resilience that has come to signify the strength and potential of this once 'giant of Africa', as well as the destruction and the socio-political and economic decay of the past decades. The Nigerian people have endured the exploitation of their rights due to the lack of democratic leadership, and with this in mind, they have been called to attention to fight for their country.
This reality was a direct result of the nature of sociopolitical cleavages and forces, and the functioning of the federal system of government during that period. The succeeding Ironsi Governemnt was too brief and preoccupied with domestic crises to make significant impacts in the foreign policy arena."--BOOK JACKET.
