Nigeria And Partnership Challenges

To say that Nigeria is one of the most prominent African countries is, perhaps, saying the obvious.   Apart from the demographic factor which conferred on Nigeria the status of the most populous African country, economic factors also contribute to regarding and calling Nigeria the  “Giant of Africa’’.

The popularity of Nigeria in the comity of nations has transformed the country into a force to be reckoned with in international affairs especially in West Africa.

International affairs experts note that Nigeria has become a desirable partner to advanced countries such as the U.S., Britain, China, France Germany, India and South Africa.

They say that this is partly attributable to Nigeria’s rich agricultural and mineral resources, which have continued to open new vistas of economic, regional and international cooperation for the country.

The experts note that Nigeria’s growing influence in world affairs is largely stimulated by its vast oil and gas resources. With a maximum crude oil production capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day, Nigeria ranks as Africa’s largest producer of oil and the sixth largest oil producing country in the world.

Nigeria even appears to have a greater potential for gas than oil. For instance, the country’s gas production in the year 2000 was approximately 1,681.66 billion scf. Out of the figure, 1,3715 billion scf was associated gas, while the remaining 310.16 billion was non-associated gas, according to a web-based publication of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Experts believe that these factors, among others, have made Nigeria a dependable ally in social, political and economic blocs.

Since its political independence in 1960, Nigeria has promoted the formation and sustenance of regional groupings such as Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), African Union (AU), while contributing a lot to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations across the world.

Most of these efforts were aimed at fostering economic cooperation, increased trade and investment, manpower development, peace and security, cultural relations as well as industrial development.

Besides, the huge Nigerian market has made the country a focus of many emerging economies like China, India and South Africa, which are scrambling to take advantage of the vast market potential for their goods and services.

Observers, however, maintain that in the globalised economy of the 21st century civilisation, no nation can survive in isolation.

They, nonetheless, insist that in spite of the interdependence of nations of the world, there are some missing links in Nigeria’s strategic partnerships with other countries.

The Acting Director of the Department of Research and Studies, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, Professor Ogaba Oche concedes that Nigeria’s strategic partnerships are somewhat not balanced.

“There is obviously no reciprocity in Nigeria’s past and present partnerships; this is not healthy for our national interests,’’ he says, adding: “Nigeria deserves more than a fair share from her increasing partnerships.’’

He stresses that the perceptible imbalance is an indication that the country is inadvertently going through another round of neo-colonialism.

Oche insists that Nigeria’s present greatest challenge nowadays is how to derive maximum benefits from her bilateral, regional and global partnerships.

He argues that the current imbalance in Nigeria’s partnership with other countries has somewhat created an opening for some kind of exploitation and dislocation in her overall development plans.

This development, among other challenges, has compelled development experts to raise certain questions on Nigeria’s strategic partnerships.

They could not understand why Nigeria has continued to enter into new partnerships.

Attempting to answer such queries, Oche emphasises that Nigeria remains very important to many countries, particularly because of its status as an emerging market.

“No country can afford to ignore Nigeria for any reasons whatsoever,’’ he says.

However, Prof. Garth Le Pere of University of Pretoria, South Africa, says that one challenge inhibiting the fulfilment of Nigeria’s partnerships is that the institutions established for managing the ventures do not impact positively on the citizens’ lives.

He explains that a strategic partnership between countries can only take place meaningfully if it is based on equality of the partners.

“We have a situation whereby countries in Europe and America always think of what can be done for countries like Nigeria”,  Le Pere says.

Amb. Mokgethi Moniasa, Consul-General of South African High Commission to Nigeria, nonetheless, says that strategic partnerships among countries are very desirable, as they tend to fast-track the development of the countries’ economies.

On Nigeria-South Africa relations, the envoy notes that the economic partnership existing between the two countries is potent and consistent.

Describing the partnership existing between Nigeria and South Africa as very important, Moniasa insists that some factors still hinder the pragmatic fulfilment of the goals of the partnership.

“South Africa depends largely on Nigeria’s crude oil and cannot do away with Nigeria,’’ he says, adding, however, that both countries ought to derive maximum mutual benefits from their partnership.

From all indications, however, Nigeria is set to fully harness the benefits that can accrue from her partnership with other nations of the world.  This is because President Goodluck Jonathan has repeatedly stressed the need for Nigeria to exploit the potential of her partnership with other countries for development purposes.

For instance, Jonathan recently challenged Nigerian ambassadors, who were recently posted out to some countries, to strive to use multilateral diplomacy for the benefit of Nigeria in efforts to foster her economic development in an ever-changing world.

“Your responsibility to attract investments into the country and open up markets for our local goods and services cannot be over-emphasised,’’ he enjoined the envoys.

However, Dr Chibuzo Nwoke of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) believes that the ultimate goal of any bilateral cooperation involving Nigeria should centre on transforming Nigeria from an exporter of raw materials to a manufacturer of goods.

The joint African Prof. Ibrahim Gambari,Union (AU)-United Nations (UN) Special Representative for Darfur, asserts that efforts should be made to turn Nigeria’s strategic partnerships into purposeful ventures.

He says that this can be achieved by defending core national interests, while ensuring security of lives, good governance and development in the country.

Gambari, who is an ex-Minister of External Affairs, nonetheless, insists that one of surest ways in which Nigeria can derive maximum benefits from her strategic partnerships is by seeking knowledge-based development which is particularly hinged on the application of science and technology.

Asije is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Victor Asije