International records / OpenAlex research

Nigeria: Foreign Policy Alternatives

Observers divide the history of Nigeria’s foreign policy into two major periods, with the civil war years as an interlude. The policy of the period of civilian rule from 1960 until the coups of 1966 is described as ‘conservative’ and cautious. Nigeria was seen as a ‘sleeping giant’. But once the war was successfully completed and the huge revenues from the sale of petroleum began to pour in, Nigerian foreign policy became more ‘active’, bold and, to some writers, even radical. The content of the policy had not changed greatly; nonalignment and the primacy of African affairs have been constant …