There is no gainsaying the point that General Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s ascension
\nto the presidency on May 29 this year brought some delight and dignity to
\nthe perception of Nigeria in the international community. I have said this
\nmuch previously in this column and concluded that Buhari\u2019s honeymoon with
\nthe West ought to be quickly maximized for national benefits. I had
\ncounselled on the need to make hay while the sun shines otherwise the
\neuphoria of the new rapprochement would melt away resulting in eventual
\ndisappointment.<\/p>\n
Now I have cause to warn again at the risk of sounding alarmist and tagged
\na wailing wailer (apologies to presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, who
\ncoined that phrase to describe the political opposition) that the
\nPresident\u2019s foreign forays are yielding less and less returns. For
\nexample, in spite of recent gains by the military, boko haram remains
\nintractable as the Chibok girls remain in captivity suggesting that
\nNigeria is not getting the kind of cooperation promised by friends abroad.
\nIt is true that diplomatic engagements sometimes require time and patience
\nto yield results but the evident fact is that Nigeria is nibbling at the
\nhuge international goodwill gained at the turn of a successful political
\ntransition from a ruling party to the opposition. I premise this
\nsubmission on the embarrassing lack of policy direction bedevilling the
\nBuhari administration four clear months into its life span.<\/p>\n
But before I expatiate further, let me commend the president for the
\ndiplomatic initiative of hosting Heads of States of West Africa over the
\npolitical crisis in Burkina Faso. By showing leadership and in a swift
\nmanner too, the president brought Nigeria pride and reinforced that
\nlong-held foreign policy inclination of making Africa a centre-piece of
\nthe country\u2019s external engagements. His recent diplomatic shuttles to
\nCameroun, Niger and Chad are no doubt relevant especially towards
\naddressing the cross-border menace of boko haram terrorism and enhancing
\nregional security. The president\u2019s intervention in rallying ECOWAS leaders
\nto seek solutions to the constitutional breach in Burkina Faso where
\npresidential guards overthrew the government is therefore a worthy
\nconsolidation of his sub-regional engagements in the last three months or
\nso.<\/p>\n
However, while there is yet the urgent need to articulate a clear foreign
\npolicy framework for the administration. This is what is expected of every
\ngovernment and the fact that this is lacking four months into the life of
\nthe government is something that has worried even admirers of President
\nBuhari. No country commands sustained respect and serious attention
\nwithout a clear-cut foreign policy agenda with which it engages the rest
\nof the world. And it is a known dictum in international relations that a
\ncountry\u2019s foreign policy agenda is a reflection of its domestic goals and
\naspirations. Thus if the Buhari administration has yet to articulate a
\nclear domestic vision and mission then it cannot advance a foreign policy
\nagenda. Forget the antics of publicists who are forced to rationalize this
\nunfortunate situation on the assumption that things are shaping up in the
\ncountry in mere response to President Buhari\u2019s body language. The
\nnarrative is that improved electricity supply, resumption of production at
\nthe hitherto moribund petroleum refineries, and the sudden reawakening of
\nanti-corruption agencies among other tangibles and intangibles of the
\nadministration so far are attributable to the aura of the president. But
\nthe truth is that no country can grow its economy in a sustained and
\nsystematic manner based on the body language of its leader. It is even
\nabsurd to assume that diplomacy and foreign relations can be undertaken on
\nsuch opaque mystique.<\/p>\n
It is therefore no surprise that the President still bandies about a wish
\nlist as trump card in his foreign visits. Recall that British Foreign
\nSecretary, Philip Hammond had extolled the successful transition that
\nbrought President Buhari to office and invited him to bring a wish list
\nbefore Western powers to help bring Nigeria up to higher plains. The
\nNigerian leader promptly accepted the invitation and has since made
\nseveral trips to the West in pursuance of this wish list- which remains as
\ntwisted as the lack of a coherent foreign policy. He visited Germany in
\nJune on the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel to participate on the
\nsidelines of the G7 Summit where he held bilateral consultations. He was
\nguest of President Barack Obama of the United States of America on a state
\nvisit that was hyped to high heavens. He recently just returned from
\nFrance on the invitation of President Francois Hollande to further
\nprosecute the actualization of his wish list. Presidential publicist,
\nMallam Garba Shehu had said the three-day visit to France focused on
\nsecurity around the Lake Chad basin area especially with respect to Boko
\nHaram. He also spoke vaguely about the pursuit of foreign investments and
\nstrengthening Nigeria-France bilateral relationship. Notably, Mr. Shehu
\nsaid further that his principal would prevail on his host to get his
\ncolleagues in the G7 to actualize the wish list with respect to assisting
\nNigeria with intelligence and military hardware to battle boko haram, help
\nin the reconstruction of the ravaged North-east part of the country, and
\nthe battle against corruption. This is pretty much the wish list of
\nPresident Buhari. But a wish list is not enough. It is expected that a
\nleader canvassing support from foreign friends must tell in clear and
\nmeasurable terms how he intends to tinker with the economy; explain
\nindigenous initiatives to tackle insecurity; advance intentions to
\nstrengthen the political and electoral process; as well as commit in words
\nand deeds to entrench respect for human rights, promote justice and fair
\nplay in a multi-ethnic system like Nigeria\u2019s. Much doubt exist that
\nPresident Buhari is doing these or truly committed to doing them.<\/p>\n
It is noteworthy that the President\u2019s delegation in nearly all of his
\noverseas trips tells much of a lack of clear objectives sought to be
\nachieved. Granted that Permanent Secretaries in charge of relevant
\nministries made up for the lack of ministers that should ordinarily
\naccompany the president on foreign visits, the inclusion of certain
\nindividuals on the official delegation was further evidence of a lack of
\nclear focus. For instance, the inclusion of Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, the Edo
\nState governor on the president\u2019s state visit to the US in July was of
\nanything but a nuisance value added. What Nigerians can remember about
\nOshiomhole\u2019s role in the trip was his controversial claim that a State
\nDepartment official had told the Nigerian delegation that a minister in
\nthe Goodluck Jonathan administration stole $6billion of public fund. When
\nchallenged by the US to provide proof of his embarrassing claim, he balked
\nthereby taking away a good slice of the seriousness with which Uncle Sam
\nhad held the Buhari team. Nigerians also recall the controversial comment
\nof President Buhari himself during one of his outing during the visit. He
\nhas complained of how the Leahy law of the United States was impeding the
\nmilitary onslaught against boko haram. The president\u2019s position which
\nattracted a rather vitriolic response from Senator Patrick Leahy, the
\ninitiator of the legislation in question, was later clarified by a
\npresidential statement. But some damage had already been done to reduce
\nwhatever gains the US visit could have achieved in terms of confidence
\nbuilding on boko haram.<\/p>\n
As you read this, President Buhari is back in the US to participate at the
\n70th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) during which
\nperiod he would be engaging several bilateral and multilateral
\nopportunities to promote Nigeria\u2019s interests. This includes talks with UN
\nSecretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Prime Minister David Cameron of
\nBritain, Chancellor Merkel of Germany, President Vladmir Putin of Russia,
\nPrime Minister Narenda Modi of India and President Xi Jinping of China,
\nformer U.S President, Bill Clinton, Mr. Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda
\nGates Foundation, former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown who is the
\nUN Special Envoy on Global Education and one of the main drivers of the
\nSafe Schools Initiative, among others. Also on the president\u2019s schedule
\nare meetings of the African Union\u2019s Peace and Security Council, a
\nHigh-Level Roundtable on South-South Cooperation organised by President Xi
\nJinping of China and the UN, and another on an updated global health
\nstrategy for women and children. Clearly, the UNGA meeting opportunities
\nprovide yet another auspicious platform to pursue the actualization of
\nPresident\u2019s Buhari\u2019s wish list. But this opportunity is constrained ab
\ninitio by a lack of clear foreign policy objectives. It is further
\nimpaired by some marginal decline in the domestic fortunes of the country
\nwith special emphasis on the economy which has suffered sustained
\nuncertainty and lack of direction since this government assumed office.
\nThis point was succinctly amplified by Prof. Akin Oyebode, a distinguished
\nacademic of international law and jurisprudence in a recent television
\ninterview when he stated that \u201cwe cannot talk of a foreign policy of the
\nPresident Buhari administration when there is yet no clear domestic
\npolicy.\u201d Until the president fulfils this basic requirement, his wish list
\nremains what it is- a wish list waiting for the genie in the bottle.<\/p>\n
Follow writer on Twitter @resourceme<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is no gainsaying the point that General Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s ascension to the presidency on May 29 this year brought some delight and dignity to the perception of Nigeria in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n