Browsing by Author "Omotuyi Sunday"

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    From ‘citizen diplomacy’ to ‘harsh border diplomacy’: Debating the relevance of Afrocentrism in Nigeria’s contemporary Foreign policy
    (Ikenga International Journal of Institute of african studies Vol. 25, No. 3, 2024) Omotuyi Sunday; Apeloko O. D.; Bello Moruf A.; Chukwudi Ekene Celestina
    Nigerian political leadership at independence crafted an African-centred foreign policy as an aspiring regional hegemon. It relentlessly pursued this ‘Manifest Destiny’ by mobilizing its human, and material resources to several African states in a bid to carve a putative regional influence in the continent. Though successive governments have internalized this unique foreign policy thrust over the years, the return to democratic governance in late 1999 has, however, seen a decline in Nigeria's commitment to the ideals of Afrocentrism. While Yar’Adua’s ‘Citizenship Diplomacy’ and Buhari’s ‘Border closure’ are a response to the plethora of domestic challenges, they nonetheless present a challenge to Nigeria’s traditional African diplomacy. This study, which relies on secondary data, contends that Nigeria’s contemporary foreign policy thrusts represent the irrelevance of Afrocentrism. It also argues that the relegation of the Africafocused external relations would have implications for Nigeria’s continental leadership aspiration, and peace in West Africa specifically. Therefore, the findings of the study revealed that the erosion of the Nigerian hegemonic leadership in the ECOWAS region will encourage interventions of extra-African actors in the African crises.
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    Visa-on-arrival, ECOWAS-free Mobility and the Securitisation of the Intra- African Migration in Nigeria
    (India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs Impact Factor:, 2024-08) Omotuyi Sunday; Apeloko O. D.; Bello Moruf Ayodele; Chukwudi Ekene Celestina
    Over the years, Nigeria’s regional hegemonic leadership in (West) Africa, especially within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, has been debated within academic and foreign relations circles. A major component of this regional leadership aspiration was its quest for a ‘borderless Africa’. As an important arrowhead of its pro-African foreign policy, the Nigerian government proactively crafted a benign national border policy to give practical expression to the free mobility of persons and goods within the West African subregion. Despite a demonstrable commitment to free mobility within Africa over the years, Abuja suddenly imposed a restrictive border policy shortly after it signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and approved the contentious visa-on-arrival for African migrants. Considering this context, this study makes three arguments: First, it interrogates the rationale behind the liberal border diplomacy of the Nigerian government. Secondly, the paper contends that the inability to ‘silence the guns’ in Africa despite all efforts has seriously militated against the aspiration for intra-African mobility and borderless Community in West Africa. Lastly, the study examines the dire implications of Nigerian nationalistic border diplomacy and its declining soft power for the future of ‘borderless West Africa’.