How do our presidential candidates see the world?

The American received wisdom is premised on the assumption that “a politician’s success is directly tied to the person’s ability to understand and influence the issues of their constituents”. It is already an open knowledge that Nigeria almost by route copies American democracy. The Americanization of Nigerian democracy ran full cycle last week when Monsieur, […]

The American received wisdom is premised on the assumption that “a politician’s success is directly tied to the person’s ability to understand and influence the issues of their constituents”. It is already an open knowledge that Nigeria almost by route copies American democracy. The Americanization of Nigerian democracy ran full cycle last week when Monsieur, John Kerry, the serving American Secretary of State broke all diplomatic protocols and came calling in Lagos, urging both President Goodluck Jonathan and his principal political rival, General Muhammadu Buhari to respect the results of next month’s presidential vote and discourage their supporters from violence. Witness him; “It is imperative that these elections happen on time, as scheduled, and that they are an improvement over past elections,” Mr Kerry said in a news conference at the end of his visit here. With that singular unprecedented (un)democratic matching orders of Secretary John Kerry on Nigerian presidential candidates, certainly politics, certainly Nigerian politics is far from being local. The question is what is the global outlook of both President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari ? Where are their foreign policies for modern democratic Nigeria?. So far the campaigns have been sufficiently local from the most “simple and mundane” such as “cluelessness” and “certificate-gate” to big issues and ideas such as fighting corruption and guaranteeing security. Daily Trust Dialogue forum posed appropriate question; how can Nigeria be the winner of 2015 election? The eminent discussants at the Dialogue have done enough justice to the pointed question with identified scores of local issues that must make these elections winning process for all Nigerians.  However without appropriate appreciation of Nigerian position in global arena by all candidates, local issues cannot be sustainably addressed.  As the concluded national conference rightly identified there is a strong nexus between domestic and foreign policies. What happens in the country affects its ability to carry out an effective foreign policy and achieve the objectives it sets itself. Therefore Nigeria’ foreign policy must be built on a solid domestic foundation that engenders wealth, security, good governance, rule of law and in which there is a large buy-in by all segments of the Nigerian society at home and abroad. Some of the suggested recommendations of the national conference must task the imagination of the presidential candidates. They include the following;  1 “Nigeria should see her membership of international organisations as a foreign policy tool which, she should use, at all times, to maximum advantage; ii. Nigeria must calibrate her interests by developing a short, medium and long term agenda in the West Africa sub-region, the African continent and the world. She must begin by sharpening her role in all the organisations she belongs to; iii. Nigeria should intensify efforts to get Nigerians appointed or elected to positions in international organisations and support them once appointed or elected to ensure that they perform well and uplift the image of the country; and iv. For the purpose of (iii) above, a Desk or Unit should be created in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, preferably in the office of the Honourable Minister or Permanent Secretary, to coordinate governmental support for getting Nigerians elected/appointed into international organisations. That Unit should also be responsible for coordinating support for non-Nigerian candidates she intends to support, particularly in African and UN organisations.
Additional Recommendations with regard to the African Union: Nigeria should create strategic alliances across Africa with a few countries of like-minds and interests with which she could work to promote such interests and the unity of the continent. An informal mechanism for consultation between the countries at the level of ambassadors, foreign ministers and heads of state and governments should be established. The point cannot be overstated: All presidential candidates must think global but act a local for a democratic Nigeria.