Jonathan’s Foreign Policy Somersault Irrespective of the ideological inclinations of individuals in power at the federal level in Nigeria, the country has always managed to stay on the side of justice and fair play in international relations. During the First Republic, Nigerian students brought the nation to a standstill in protest against the Anglo-Nigerian defence pact that would have allowed the British retain control over the Nigerian armed forces. The Nigerian House of Representatives had, by a vote of 166 to 38, approved the agreement. On November 14 1960, Nigerian students and youth organisations surrounded the Parliament Building in Lagos, while their counterparts in other parts of the country carried out anti-Defence Pact rallies. The All Nigeria People’s Conference, which was convened mid-1961, endorsed the position of the students and called for the abrogation of the pact. The largely conservative Nigerian government bowed to popular will and announced the abrogation of the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact on January 21 1962. In later years, Nigeria continued to show leadership in foreign affairs, with Africa as the centre point of her foreign policy. In 1976, the Murtala Mohammed military administration loudly proclaimed this point and went on to match words with action when imperial powers continued to collude with the racist regimes in southern Africa. The Nigerian military government nationalised some assets of foreign sympathisers of the racist regimes and gave diplomatic status to representatives of liberation movements posted to Nigeria. Thus, Nigeria was referred to as a ‘Frontline State’. Further on in time, Nigeria was at the head of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), to restore sanity to troubled West African states, and it also led the pack in observing the African Union’s resolution supporting Palestinian statehood. Curiously, the current government in Nigeria seems to have abandoned the time-honoured support for oppressed people all over the world. At the last United Nations (UN) Security Council session, a last-minute abstention from voting by Nigeria helped defeat a resolution calling for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory by 2017. Looking for a creative way out of the deadlock that has always attended peace talks on the matter, the Palestinians had approached the United Nations with the resolution. Nigeria’s U-turn caught many people unawares, because as recently as 2011, the Nigerian government still confirmed, through its then foreign minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, that the country was committed to “a solution whereby two states, Palestine and Israel, will live peacefully side-by-side”. Sadly, Nigeria’s abstention at the last UN Summit does not tally with that statement. It is true that in politics, as in foreign relations, there are no permanent friends or foes, but permanent interests. But we make bold to argue that policy somersaults raised to the level of statecraft are not in the best interest of the country. (Leadership)
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 09:00:59 +0000
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