Foreign Policy Strategy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1960-2012:The Missing Link

The study examined Nigeria Foreign Policy from 1960-2012. The objective was to find out whether there is any change in foreign policy orientation among the various regimes or administrations within the period of study. The method of study employed was historical and descriptive research study methods. To this end, the analysis was done thematically and the results or findings show that the logic and the instrumentality of domestic development linkage theory in foreign policy is virtually lacking in Nigerian foreign policy behaviour. This is because Afrocentric foreign policy commitment overwhelmingly overshadows domestic reality. Although the Obasanjo’s and Jonathan’s economic diplomacy try to aligned the nation’s economic reality (The NEEDS policy and Transformation agenda) with her international interaction, however, much of the foreign policy resources were not deployed to bear on the welfare of the citizenry hence, the current economic crisis in the country. Based on this, the study recommends a paradigm shift of using foreign policy as an instrument for the revitalizations and the diversification of the nation’s economy to engineer national development.