Bolstering a country’s global stature is not just a matter of image and pride. It is much deeper than that. It is a strategic necessity for countries that want and need to be more than bit players in the global arena. As the post-World War II order continues to strain at the seams, it is imperative for Nigeria to navigate the uncharted terrain with tact and to carefully position itself as a strong voice to reckon with on the global stage. We need to do this for ourselves and for others.

Even as some countries become more inward-looking largely in response to unmet domestic expectations about globalisation, the world remains intimately and intricately connected. Decisions and actions in one far-flung corner of the globe sometimes have outsized impacts on the health and the prosperity of people across the world. The link between the global and the local is yet to be decoupled. Nigeria therefore does not have the luxury of simply minding its internal business or of joining the growing gang of the insular. It is in our enlightened self-interest not only to advocate for the evolving global order to be a fairer and more just one but also for us to actively join in shaping the structure of what is likely to emerge.

But Nigeria’s capacity to do this will not merely be a function of its current and projected population or of its past reputation or a claim to some form of manifest destiny. Nigeria’s agency will derive from the capacity to sort out its internal challenges; its appreciation of the dynamics of the evolving moment; and its readiness to make the necessary investment in time, thought and money.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, appears to instinctively get this, and maybe not surprisingly too—having had to wrestle with the theories and practice of international relations as a student and a practitioner at the highest levels. On Thursday, fresh from a fence-mending shuttle to Niger Republic, Tuggar had a two-hour, high-level engagement with the crème of the policy, academic and civil society firmament in Abuja. He spoke eloquently and passionately about the need for Nigeria to re-prioritise diplomacy and about the importance of recalibration, pragmatism, resilience and thought-leadership as the country engages with the rest of the world in this uncertain period and in the undefined days ahead.

The minister spoke at the inaugural session of the Agora Policy Forum, an initiative of Agora Policy supported by the MacArthur Foundation, which is designed to facilitate structured and frank interactions between senior government officials and informed members of the public about current and emerging public policies. The forum aims to provide policy makers the opportunity to speak about the rationale, the direction and the content of public policies and for critical policy stakeholders to provide considered feedback and inputs.

The theme of the engagement with Tuggar was: “Nigeria’s Foreign Policy at a Time of Global Uncertainty.” Tuggar, who had served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Germany, delivered an opening statement where he flagged the unfolding fragmentation of the current multilateral order. He made a case for Nigeria’s increased agency, via greater emphasis on diplomacy, in ushering in a new and more inclusive world order. “We see the existing order deconstructing,” he said. “It was an order that did not present a level-playing field for Nigeria and Africa. As that order breaks down, what follows is much less clear. It is our responsibility, as the region’s key power, to be a voice for Africa—to play our part in helping create a modern and dynamic order that reflects our national and shared interests. And that responsibility is fundamentally diplomatic”.

Tuggar went on to identify the four pillars of Nigeria’s foreign relations in these uncertain times. These are: strategic autonomy; economic diplomacy and sustainable development; security and regional stability; and Nigeria’s voice and agency in the global arena. It appears that the philosophical anchor of our foreign policy going forward will be strategic autonomy, which maintains and builds on earlier stance of neutrality or non-alignment. Roughly, this will mean that the compass of navigation will be Nigeria’s national interests, not sheepish alignment or automatic opposition to any camp.

The foreign affairs minister captured it this way: “As global power shifts toward multipolarity, Nigeria must assert greater strategic autonomy in its international engagements. We are strengthening our bilateral relations with emerging powers like China, India, and Brazil while maintaining constructive partnerships with the United States, the European Union, and traditional allies. We aim to ensure that Nigeria is not merely a passive actor in global affairs but an active shaper of outcomes that align with our national interests.”

Nigeria, he said, will pursue its national interests guided by some of the following: partnerships, investments and development financing for economic growth and sustainable development; fair energy transition and climate financing to promote green industrialisation; design and enforcement of home-grown mechanisms for tackling insecurity in our immediate neighbourhood and beyond; reform and strengthening of global institutions, especially the UN Security Council; and leveraging collective action to address global challenges.

He concluded his address with an exhortation: “Nigeria must remain proactive, adaptive, and innovative in its foreign engagements as it navigates global uncertainty. Evidence-based policymaking, a long-term vision, and a commitment to national and continental advancement must underpin our strategy…Nigeria’s foreign policy during a time of global uncertainty is not merely about responding to external pressures but also about shaping our destiny within the international order. It is about ensuring that our economy is resilient, our security is safeguarded, and our voice is amplified in global decision-making. As we look to the future, I urge all stakeholders—diplomats, academics, business leaders, and civil society—to play their part in strengthening Nigeria’s global standing.”

After his opening statement, I had a fireside-style chat with him for about 30 minutes and moderated the interactive session between him and the participants for about one hour. Issues raised and discussed included: his trip to Niger and his assessment of ECOWAS at 50; the reasons for and the pathways out of the multiple crises in West Africa and the Sahel; the failure of the administration to appoint ambassadors in 18 months; the shrinking of Nigeria’s global profile; an interrogation of the concept of strategic autonomy; the gap between international relations research and foreign policy implementation; the decomposition of the nation-state and its impact on relations within and among states; the dissonance between posturing about democracy abroad and democratic realities at home; the link between foreign policy and domestic realities; the impact of limited local governance on development deficits and instability in the region;  the implication of the tariff wars on Nigeria and others; regional insecurity and human trafficking; the balance between career and non-career ambassadors in diplomatic postings; and the impact of social media disinformation on foreign relations.

On the whole, the interaction was comprehensive, engaging and productive. The minister gave thoughtful answers and clearly articulated the current direction of Nigeria’s foreign policy, the most lucid I have heard in recent times about our foreign policy, and more fleshed out than the acronym of 4Ds—democracy, development, demography and diaspora. The participants offered knowledgeable comments and asked probing questions but in a respectable manner. This is refreshing: discussion of policy issues in a cerebral, not emotional and vacuous way, and devoid of the partisanship, dogmatism, antagonism and gratuitous insults that mask vacuousness and have gravely diminished the quality of public discourse in recent times. We need more discursive and deliberative platforms for more inclusive and effective public policies.

I align with Tuggar on the need to amplify Nigeria’s voice and standing in global decision-making. Some of us still remember, with great pride, the period when Nigeria was deemed the undisputed voice of Africa and of the black race. The ‘Africa Has Come of Age’ speech still remains a seminal moment in the annals of our international relations. Nigeria’s role as a frontline state in the fight against apartheid and colonialism in far-away southern Africa, even when largely unappreciated, confirmed our status as the true giant on the continent. Our leadership of ECOMOG to end civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone and to restore a democratic rule in the latter as well as our contributions to global peace missions and even our Technical Aid Corps underscored our willingness to give freely of ourselves to ensure peace and progress in our neighbourhood and beyond. We were a giant not just by size but by deeds, and we naturally commanded the respect and the influence attached to that.

But we fell off the global arena in the last decade and a half. This is partly on account of the inevitable rise of others, especially post-apartheid South Africa. But it is mostly because we have become overwhelmed by our own internal challenges, especially insecurity and because we have been attaching little seriousness to foreign relations beyond just showing up with obscene entourages at international meetings. The rigour of our positions on issues and our understanding of the politics of the international arena vis-à-vis our interests need to improve. We need to be more proactive, deliberate and strategic. For instance, on the issue of reciprocal tariffs by the United States, a more strategic approach would have been to constitute a multisectoral team to look at the different ways in which Nigeria may be impacted and devise appropriate strategies instead of ministers singing discordant tunes. In a similar vein, we should have experts studiously building scenarios and options about the evolving world order to ensure that we are not caught napping and not left scrambling to make sense of things after the fact.

It is not a vanity project for us to aspire to be a major player on the global stage. We were still under colonial rule when the expiring order was designed. Now, some of the former colonies have come of age. Nigeria is one of them, and we deserve to be rightly considered an emerging power, with the opportunity to speak for ourselves and for others. But we have to get our act together. Getting our act together will include tackling more seriously the domestic challenges (slow growth, creeping insecurity etc) holding us down. Size without strength will not suffice.

This will also demand greater clarity about the outcomes that we seek and much better resourcing of our foreign affairs ministry. We need to also invest in domestic understanding and in building domestic support behind our foreign policy aspirations. Our citizens must understand what direction we are going and why. Even as kids, we knew why Nigeria had a role in the decolonisation of southern Africa. We also need to proactively mobilise all the assets at our disposal. Look at the global reach of our Afrobeats, Nollywood and comedy. For example, Burna Boy had a sold-out concert at Stade de France on Friday night. That is soft power right there, and it is enormous. Clearly, these sectors and artistes exploded onto the world stage and consciousness in spite of the Nigerian state. But their reach can still be creatively leveraged to enhance Nigeria’s standing and influence in the world, especially as we approach a new epoch in international relations.