Rethinking Nigeria’s Strategic Relationship with its Immediate Neighbours
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This paper strengthens the perspective that the national security and development of a state
are predicated upon the good and strategic relationship of countries with their immediate
neighbours. It centres its argument around the fact that the global system in the 21st century
has been characterized by ups and downs that have shaken the grounds of global peace and
security and that growing diminution of the “global village”, due to increasing
interdependence of states and non-state actors,has necessitated an ever-rising need for
collective security on global and regional scale. Nigeria’s foreign policy has often been said
to be characterized by the principle of good neighbourliness for the purpose of secure
neighbourhood and national security. Indeed, the numerous security challenges of the
country at present, such as ethnic conflicts,religious fundamentalism, power tussle and
insurgency, require shared security intelligence, regional military cooperation and of
course, good neighbourliness. This enterprise constitutes a search for a deeper
understanding of ‘good neighbourliness’ and suggests a redefinition of that stance to reflect
realpolitik. The paper seeks to critically identify the new ways in which Nigeria can
strategically relate with its immediate neighbours, including Benin, Cameroon, Chad,
Niger, Equatorial Guinea and nearby countries that do not share boundaries with it.
Emphasis is made on the need for the government to pursue dynamic, tactical and strategic
defence policy, which will include ensuring the impenetrability and prevention of
infiltration of its boundaries, in view of the fact most of the national security problems
testing the corporate existence of Nigeria todayare from its borders.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), JA Political science (General), JC Political theory