Highlight three merits and three demerits of Africa as the centre piece of Nigeria Foreign Policy

Answer Details

Making Africa the centrepiece of Nigeria's foreign policy has had both advantages and disadvantages.

Three merits

1. Leadership and prestige: Championing African causes gave Nigeria the status of a leader and a big brother on the continent, enhancing its international image and influence.
2. Promotion of African liberation and unity: The policy enabled Nigeria to support decolonisation, the anti-apartheid struggle and the formation of bodies such as the OAU and ECOWAS, strengthening African solidarity.
3. Regional peace and security: Through peacekeeping and mediation, notably in Liberia and Sierra Leone under ECOMOG, Nigeria helped to restore stability in the sub-region, which serves its own security interests.

Three demerits

1. Heavy financial burden: The policy drained enormous resources through aid, grants and military intervention, often to the neglect of domestic needs.
2. Neglect of national interest: Critics argue that Nigeria spent so much on other African states that it received little tangible benefit in return, sometimes even ingratitude.
3. Overstretch and abuse: Constant intervention exposed Nigerian troops to danger and loss of lives, and the generosity was sometimes exploited by ungrateful beneficiaries.