A BOLD foreign policy has become major mishap in the face of grave internal problems confronting Nigeria today. As they say in Latin, FUIMUS TROVES-we were once Trojans but TROY is no more.

Though we recently hosted the South African President, the Polish Prime Minister, and even the Ghanaian President was in Uyo recently and we can still boast of an experienced foreign Minister who spent almost his entire public service life in the foreign Affairs Ministry, but the fire for which Nigeria was known in the foreign scene, has extinguished.

In the past when Nigeria spoke the world noted and when Nigeria led the rest of Africa followed not because of population or resources but because of bold global foreign policy initiatives.  But no more.

It is either we lack the initiatives now or we are now hostage to our internal problems. In the global scene, we have become very inert and supine.

No doubt, we still attend regular global summits, regional meetings, Presidential inaugurations, Foreign burials, ceremonies and events but not in an active capacity but as onlookers, bystanders and mere back benchers. Passive is the word.

Even Nigerian students, who in the past, use to be very operative and dynamic on foreign affairs particularly on African affairs to the extent that they marched along with the government, have now been submerged with internal contradictions.

Bad and negative stories have become part of our foreign exports.

From 1960 till date, this country Nigeria has contributed in 25 peace keeping operations:

1.United Nations Operations in the Congo (ONUG),1960-64

2.United Nations Transition Assurance Assistance Group in Namibia (UNTAG),1989-90

3.United Nations Angola Verification Mission II (UNAVEM II) 1991-95

4.United Nations Angola Verification Mission III (UNAVEM III) 1995-97

5.United Nations Observer Mission in Angola  (MONUA), 1997

6.United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara ( MINURSO), 1991-

7.United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) 1993-1995

8.United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ), 1992-1994

9.United Nations Assistance Mission of Rwanda (UNAMIR), 1993-96

10.United Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group  (UNASOG),1994

11.United Nations India-Pakistan Observer Mission (UNIPOM),1965-66

12.United Nations Security Force in West New Guinea (UNSF),1962-63

13.United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTA), 1992-193

14.United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT),1994-

15.United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFR),1992-95

16.United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO),1995-1996)

17.United Nations Preventive Deployment Force in Macedonia (UNPREDEP),1995

18.United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), 1995-

19.United Nations Transitional Administration or Eastern Slovenia, Baraja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES),1996-98

20.United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP), 1996-

21.United Nations Civilian Police Support Group in Croatia,1998

22.United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group,1988-91

23.United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UN IKOM), 1991-

24.United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), 1978-

25.United Nations Peace Keeping Missions in Sierra Leone,1999-

In 1960 just before Nigeria’s independence, Nigeria signed a military pact with Great Britain so as to safeguard Nigeria’s security in the absence of full-fledged Nigeria army, Nigerian students demonstrated against the signing of the pact and the protests led to the cancellation of the pact by the Nigerian Government.

On February 13th, 1961 on the eve of the African Summit in Casablanca, Morocco, France tested an atomic bomb which contained Plutonium and had an explosive force equal to 10,000-14,000 tonnes of TNT half as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb, in the Sahara desert in the French Polynsia.

The radioactive fallout of the bomb affected people living in the remote part of the Sahara desert. The initiative on the protest against France was led by the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa(1912-1966). Nigeria expelled France ambassador to Nigeria, closed Nigeria’s ports and airports to French ships and planes. Sudan,Ghana,Egypt followed Nigeria’s step.

In April 1964, the third battalion of the Nigeria Army led by Lieutenant Colonel Pam was air lifted to Tanzania to help President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania to train a new army following the dissolution of the Tanzania army after the mutiny.

The arrival of the Nigeria troops allowed the British troops to depart.  Between 1963 and 1965 world leaders were romancing not only our National leaders but the Regional leaders in Nigeria as well. For example, Arch-Bishop Makarios of Cyprus (1948-1977) was a personal friend of the Regional Premier of the Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Michael Iheonucura Okpara (1920-1984) while the Pegional Premier of the North Sir Ahmadu Bello (1909-1966) was so popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states that a few days before he was assassinated, he was given access to Prophet Muhammad’s very tomb. When the President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Francis Kofi Nwia Nkrumah (1909-1972) visited Nigeria in 1962, he slept in the personal house of his friend, Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987) in his Okebola’s residence in Ibadan. Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe(1909-1996) was a personal friend of  the former President of Haiti, Francois Duvalier (1907-1971) alias Papa Doc. We all aware of the relationship between Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. So loved was Sir Tafawa Balewa by world leaders that the day he was assassinated, there was a letter in his Babariga from Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia  (1913-1978),the then leader of opposition in  Ghana, alerting him that there was to be a coup in Nigeria. Even after the coup of 1966, General Gowon built personal friendship with other world leaders including Emperor Haile Selassie (1892-1975), Haman El-Hadji Diouri of NigerRepublic, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo (1935-2005).

However it was between 1975 and 1979 that we had dynamism in our foreign policy. In 1975 there was a pre independence struggle in Angola. On one side we had the Moveiemento porpalar de libertacao de angola(MPLA) led by Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto(1922-1979), on the other side was the frente nucional de libertacao de angola (FNLA) led by Holden Alvaro Roberto (1923-2007) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola(UNITA) led Jonas Savimbi (1934-2002).

Both the FNLA and UNITA were sponsored by the apartheid South Africa along with the Western world. In November 1975, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938-1976) flew to Addis Ababa for the OAU conference and announced that “Africa has come of age it is no longer under the orbit of any continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or mar”. To the surprise of everyone he announced Nigeria’s recognition for the MPLA as the legitimate government in Angola.  On February 4, 1976, he despatched his then deputy General Olusegun Obansanjo along with Chief Ebenezer Babatope to reassure the Angolans of the support of the government. Nine days later he was assassinated on his way to the office in Ikoyi, Lagos and General Obasanjo who succeeded him soldiered on with the execution of very bold and dynamic foreign policy.

In fact Nigeria’s foreign Minister at that time Major General Naveh Garba (1943-2002) was so active during that period that my then boss Chief Abiodun Aloba alias Ebenezer Williams, Pioneer General Manager of Nigeria Herald dubbed him “the foreign Minister of Africa”. During those years Ikeja airport correspondents like Dapo Aderinola,Seinde Dagunduro,late Kola Adeshina,Toye Akiyode,Tayo Falade,Mike Edemeyo, late Richard Amayo, Femi Ogunleye,Francis Emelefoun, Andre Diojemao, James Bello, Bisi Oloyede,Babson Adeyemi,Kunle Egbeyemi, Jimi Aderiokun,Alhaji Adio Saka and others were in the super cadre among journalists for their daily coverage of world leaders visiting Nigeria.

In 1976, there was the Olympic games in Montreal, Canada, Nigeria led twenty-two African countries to pull out of the games because of New Zealand links with apartheid South Africa. The IOC had earlier been banned South Africa from participating in Olympics because of its racial policy. Nigeria also pulled out of the Edmonton commonwealth games in Canada in 1978 also because New Zealand had links with apartheid South Africa.

In 1980 Olympic games held in Moscow, President Shehu Shagari  refused to heed the America request to boycott the Olympic games in spite of the America delegation including the famous Muhammed Alli that visited Nigeria and begged Nigeria  not to take part whereas Niger,Mauritius,Malawi,Liberia,Ghana,Gambia,Chad,Cote Ivoire,Egypt and Gabon participated.

In 1986,General Ibrahim Babangida  led 36 African and Carribean leaders to pull out of the Commonwealth games over the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s dealings with apartheid South Africa.

The last time global focus was on Nigeria was when President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected President of the African Union, chairman of the Common wealth and chairman Non-aligned nations in 2004. Since then our status has reduced.

If we have been active President Barak Obama of the USA would not have flown over our air space to visit Ghana on July 10, 2009.  Although he has not visited his father’s country, Kenya till date.

It is true he received our President in the White house on January 8th, 2011 but he should have included him when he met the four African leaders, President Mucky Sal of Senegal, President Earnest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, Present Joyce Banda of Malawi and the Prime Minister of Cape Verde Mr. Pereira Nerves on March 28th this year at the White House.

Dante (1265-1321) wrote in his book inferno” there is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we are happy”.

Mr.  ERIC TENIOLA, a former director in the Presidency, wrote from Lagos.