NIGERIAN FOREIGN POLICY AND GLOBAL PEACE SUPPORT OPERATIONS

Abstract

Nigeria’s influence as a regional hegemon transcends its numerical strength, resource endowment and economic potentials. This continues to be demonstrated by her outstanding contributions in global peace support operations. Nigeria’s strong commitment to issues of global peace and security is demonstrated in her numerous conflict management and peace support efforts using the
platforms of the ECOMOG in particular and also the UN among others. As an influential state in Africa, Nigeria has since independence remained consistent in most peace support operations within Africa and beyond. These interventions, no doubt, have come to constitute massive assets not only to Nigeria as a nation, but also, to the global community. Sadly, there are clear signals that peacekeeping operations have consistently become deceptive and repressive instruments in the hands of the global big powers who have become more concerned with protection of their vested interests in conflict regions of the world. Relying on secondary data sourced from text books, journal articles, internet documents and newspaper editorials to analyze philosophically
the prevailing developments in the global peace support operations. In addition, the paper employed as its theoretical frame work the liberal theory of international relations and argued that through collective actions, states can cooperate to enthrone peace and security and eliminate possibility of war and should there be any, limit its catastrophes. The paper concludes that even
with its proactive foreign policy in global peace support operations, Nigeria needs to do more, particularly in working to ensure that the global big powers are minimally influenced by vested interests in their own interventions. Finally, the paper recommends that Nigeria should take its interest beyond sustaining political status-quo in conflict ridden countries to also devising means
of making regimes in power more responsible and accountable to their citizenry.