Economic Diplomacy In Nigeria

In 1988, the Nigerian state freely, or so it seemed, adopted yet another slogan in its external relations......
Unlike the previous slogans or thrusts (such as African center piece) which were hinged on the supposedly huge resources of the country, the state was pushed into adopting the current thrust by the major reverse in the circumstances that had warranted the adoption of previous thrusts. 

For example, the Naira diplomacy and the concentric circle thesis with which Professor Ibrahim Gambari has been intimately associated had rested on the premise that Nigeria could ward off any
 real or potential threat to her interests, coming especially from the African sector area through the qualitative use of her enormous oil wealth or by availing herself of the advantage of the intimidating perception of her power by other state actors in the international system.
 

With the deepening economic crisis, however, which set in the early 1980s, the state began to shift emphasis from thoughts on how Nigeria could use her financial muscle to show how she could use her political weight as reflected in her geographical size, population and huge oil resources of national greatness to effect a turn around in her heavily self-damaged economy. Thus, the focus of the state has profoundly been on how the instrumentality of foreign relations can be made to have a positive impact on the national economy.
 

The thrust of economic diplomacy was therefore astutely embraced in Nigeria as a panacea to the observed external distortions in the policy of Structural Adjustment
 Programmes (SAPs) adopted in 1986. The overriding objective of economic diplomacy is to generate sufficient external support for SAPs (Federal Ministry of Budget
 and Planning, 1990). In terms of origin, Asobie (1991) has argued that although its formal adoption is dated back to 1988, its conception could be traced further back to 1985 when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suffered a setback in Nigeria.
 

 To be specific, the Fund Special Drawing Right which had been haunting Nigeria since 1983 was overwhelmingly rejected through a national debate. As part of the substitute package for the IMF loan, the thrust of economic diplomacy was canvassed.
 

Despite a nine-year history behind its formal adoption, the debate on the newness or otherwise of economic^ diplomacy has not sufficiently subsided. Although one would be correct to say that since Ibrahim Babangida was eased out of power in 1993,not much is being held about the thrust. 

Nevertheless, the continuous existence of structures which were hitherto put in place to implement the policy and the apparent silence of the Abacha administration over a new foreign policy direction seem to suggest the continuation of the same thrust.