How Nigeria can assert herself in New World Order, by Bolaji Akinyemi

Nigeria needs to clean up her act. She needs to become a less corrupt country. She needs to practice an inclusive form of governance and not a patent form of governance that emphasises incompetence, square pegs in round holes, and turns Nigeria into the exclusive property of one nationality, thus, breeding secessionist agitation. This state will not help Nigeria achieve its manifest destiny in the world.

With these words, former Minister of External Affairs and Professor of International Affairs, Bolaji Akinyemi, yesterday, tried to awaken the country into asserting itself among nations of the world.

Prof. Akinyemi spoke at the 2022 Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) Distinguished Lecture in Lagos.

Titled, ‘On the Theme of a New World Order,’ Akinyemi, who is also President of the Academy of International Affairs, specifically devoted a section of the speech to his beloved nation.

In the discourse, ‘The New World Order: The Nigerian Factor’, Akinyemi lamented that in the past 16 years, “the voice of Nigeria on global affairs has been irritatingly, embarrassingly and glaringly silent.”

This, according to him, “has provided an opportunity for the marginalisation of Nigeria and the absence of a force to drive African role on global affairs.”

He said: “I cannot overemphasise the need for Africa to be present at the table where the design of the new world order would take place and where the African agenda will be autochthonous. To achieve this, the role and status of Nigeria, as a primus inter pares, cannot be overstated.”

Akinyemi noted that the reasons for Nigeria’s silence are multiple. “The first is the illnesses of Yar’adua and Buhari. The second was the lack of interest in foreign affairs by Jonathan and Buhari.”

He, however, stressed: “The issue goes beyond this. The foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China met in September 2006 in New York to lay the foundation of BRIC, which later became BRICS with an invitation to South Africa.

“The Nigerian President at that time was General Olusegun Obasanjo. Why was the foreign minister of Nigeria not present at that meeting? This was during an administration that was active in global affairs. My suspicion is that we had a President at that time who usually was not interested in anything he could not lay claim to authoring.”

The former minister noted that by the time South Africa was invited to join in 2011, its GDP was $375.3 billion while Nigeria was $361.5 billion.

“The difference of $14 billion was not sufficient to have explained the non-inclusion of Nigeria,” he said.

“By 2020, Nigeria’s GDP was $432.3 billion while that of South Africa was $301.9 billion. By 2022, Nigeria’s GDP is the first in Africa at $510.588 billion, Egypt is second with $435.621 billion and South Africa is third with $426.116 billion,” he added.

Akinyemi, however, noted that “the global isolation at BRICS and G20 levels cannot be laid at the doors of the global community, even though fingers have been pointed at this administration as the most corrupt that Nigeria has ever had.

“What with 500,000 barrels of crude oil stolen; what with secret pipelines to steal crude oil laid nine years ago which was just discovered by NNPC, after it was pointed out to them by a non-state actor who had just won a security surveillance contract.

“What the Nigerian GDP would have been if the leakages on the executive and legislative levels have been substantially reduced is better imagined.”

Akinyemi cited the example of Turkey, which, in his words, “was not brooding when it was excluded from BRICS. She simply hunkered down and built up her industrial capacity. Now, Turkey is a powerhouse in Europe that can call the shots when and where she wants.”

In his speech, Minister of State for Petroleum, Odein Ajumogobia, urged Africans to play a role in the new world order by creating a table in international affairs.

He also urged Nigerians to remain positive on attaining sustainable development goals.