IN SEARCH OF THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY IN HER FOREIGN POLICY: A CONSTRUCTIVE THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

Résumé

Historically, attempts to study the foreign policy of third world nations in general and Nigeria in particular have been fraught with problems. These problems arose essentially from the lack of internal harmony amongst the various ethnic and religious groups that constitute the nation. This, in turn, has fuelled inconsistency in regimes' ideological orientations, which has been the bane of pragmatic foreign policy. This paper seeks to examine the issue of national identity in Nigeria's foreign policy. It implores the constructive theoretical model proposed by Alexander Wendt, which seems to provide the most appropriate explanation for a formidable Nigerian foreign policy in the 21st century. Secondary sources are used to supply historical perspective and to point out the connotations of facts in regards to the wider debate about Nigeria’s foreign policy. In all, the study concludes that the social relations of hostility amongst the various ethnic groups in Nigeria account for the lack of coherent national identity in the nation's foreign policy. Furthermore, the study is of the opinion that if the same ideas and beliefs that are responsible for hostilities are re-oriented, the social relationship can change to one of friendship that could birth national identity in the nation's foreign policy.