Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and Diaspora Engagements: The Unharnessed Strategic Asset

Abstract

Most studies on the Nigerian diaspora have focused on the contributions of the diaspora to national development through remittances, attraction of foreign direct investment and knowledge transfer. This chapter focuses on the nexus between the diaspora for foreign policy. It argues that if properly harnessed, the Nigerian diaspora can serve as strategic assets for promoting and achieving Nigerian foreign policy goals. In this regard, diaspora diplomacy should primarily aim at generating loyalty toward the home country and ultimately maximize it as political influence by propagating particular nationalistic narratives. The chapter is qualitative and analytical in approach, with data sourced largely from secondary sources including reputable journals, books, book chapters, monographs, and records, and analyzed thematically. The chapter revealed that diaspora diplomacy has grown to the extent that government engagement with diasporas is associated with strengthening credibility of foreign policies when they are collaborated with, since deliberate collaboration with diasporan publics promotes informed policy and stronger ties with governments and publics abroad. As noted by Joseph Nye, foreign policy formulations of a country should emphasize more on the notion of soft power, rather than hard military force. The diaspora is one of several instruments of soft power like culture, education, economy, and constitutes an economic, cultural, political, emotional, and social investment. The chapter concludes by recommending that Nigeria’s foreign policy should be reviewed to capture the protection of the rights and the welfare of Nigerians at home and abroad, as a means to counteract diaspora apathy to the country’s external affairs.