Rethinking Nigeria's soft power capability as a regional leader in Africa
Downloads
Nigeria has always been seen as a significant regional player in Africa, and the country has not hidden its aspiration to be its leader. However, recent events, particularly in the fourth republic between 1999 and to date, have seen this ambition decline significantly. The study interrogates Nigeria's soft power leadership capability as contemporary power diffusion theory and its ambition to be a regional leader in Africa. It examines various ways Nigeria can rethink its soft power strategies to achieve its age-long regional aspiration. The qualitative research method was adopted for the study, while primary and secondary sources were used in collecting data for the research. Findings reveal that Nigeria's neglect and underutilisation of its strategic soft power tools in gaining regional influence continue to inhibit its African leadership ambitions. The study recommends a dynamic policy of developing and deploying significant soft power resources to boost Nigeria's leadership in Africa.
Abdulrazak R (2020) The role of education and science in supporting a nation's soft power. Brand Finance, November. [Accessed 10 November 2021]. https://brandirectory.com/rankings/nationbrands/2020.
Aina D (2020) Technical aid corps: Nigeria's soft diplomacy since 1987. [Accessed 20 June 2022]. https://guardian.ng/opinion/technical-aid-corps-nigerias-soft-diplomacy-since-1987/.
Ajayi O (2020) #EndSars: IMF links protests in Nigeria to economic difficulties. Nairametrics, 23 October. [Accessed 30 October 2021]. https://nairametrics.com/2020/10/23/endsars-imf-linksprotests-to-economic-difficulties/.
Akinsola W (2019) The state of Nigeria's fashion industry. Stears Business, 11 June. [Accessed 29 October 2020]. https://www.stearsng.com/article/the-state-of-nigerias-fashion-industry.
Akintoye S (2010) A History of the Yoruba People. Dakar: Amalion Publishers. Anonymous (2019) Google celebrates Nigerian food culture with the world. [Accessed 10 May 2022]. https://www.techcityng.com/google-celebrates-nigerian-food-culture-with-the-world/.
Apter A & Derby L (2009) Activating the past: History and Memory of the Black Atlantic World. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Barnett M & Duvall R (2005) Power in international politics. International Organization 59 (1):39-75. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818305050010.
Brand Finance-Global Soft Power Index (2020) The world's most comprehensive research study on perceptions of soft power. Brand Finance, November. [Accessed 10 November 2021]. https://brandirectory.com/rankings/nation-brands/2020.
Brummell P (2020) The role of soft power in foreign policy. Brand Finance, November. [Accessed 10 November 2021]. https://brandirectory.com/rankings/nation-brands/2020.
Council of Europe (2020) Current tools on good governance. [Accessed 30 October 2021]. https://www.coe.int/en/web/good-governance/toolkits.
Crabb CVM (1968) Nations in a multipolar world. New York: Harper and Row.
Crouch G & Rutchie J (1999) Tourism, competitiveness and social prosperity. Journal of Business Research 44: 137-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(97)00196-3.
Dauda M, Ahmad MZB, & Keling MF (2019) Hegemony and leadership in Africa: an appraisal of Nigeria's role. Asian People Journal (APJ) 2 (1):138-154.
Dinnie K (2008) Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.
Dutta S, Lanvin B, & Wunsch-Vincent S (ed) (2019) Global Innovation Index 2019: Creating Healthy Lives-The Future of Medical Innovation 12th Edition. Geneva: INSEAD & WIPO.
Ekun A (2020) COVID-19: Nigerian companies have records of innovation to turn pandemic challenge to gold. [Accessed 3 November 2021]. https://nairametrics.com/2020/05/10/covid-19-nigeriancompanies-have-records-of-innovation-to-turn-pandemic-challenge-to-gold/.
Ernst & Young (2012) Rapid-Growth markets soft power index. [Accessed 20 October 2021]. http://www.skolkovo.ru/public/media/documents/research/SIEMS_Monthly_Briefing_2012-06_eng.pdf.
Esizemetor D & Egbokhare (2012) Language Varieties Naija (Nigerian Pidgin). [Accessed 28 October 2021]. https://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/naija.html.
Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (2020) Draft 2020 national sports industry policy. Abuja: Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
FIFA (2020) Men's ranking-19 April, 1994. [Accessed 29 October 2021]. https://www.fifa.com/fifaworld-ranking/rankingtable/men/rank/id9/.
Fisk P (2020) Soft power megatrends. Brand Finance. [Accessed 10 November 2021]. https://brandirectory.com/rankings/nation-brands/2020.
Gopalan S & Park S (2019) Revisiting soft power: 2019 rankings. [Accessed 24 June 2022]. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143476.
Henley & Partners (2020) Passport index. [Accessed 31 October 2021]. https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index/ranking.
Johari J (2014) International Relations and Politics: Theoretical Perspectives in the Post-cold War Era. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited.
Kaufmann D & Kraay A (2002) Growth without governance. [Accessed10 March 2022]. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19206.
Koslow P (1995) Hausa Land: The Fortress Kingdoms (The Kingdom of Africa). New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
KPMG Advisory Services (2017) The visa on arrival scheme in Nigeria-recent developments. [Accessed 31 October 2021]. https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/ng/pdf/tax/ng-The-Visa-on-ArrivalScheme-in-Nigeria-Recent-Developments-updated.pdf.
Lawrence H & Sika O (2016) Applicable international environmental impact assessment laws for the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 10 (11): 386-393. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJEST2016.2181.
MacDonald A (2018) Soft Power Superpowers – Global Trends in Cultural Engagement and Influence. London: British Council.
McClory J (2010) The New Persuaders: An International Ranking of Soft Power. London: Institute for Government.
McClory J (2011) The New Persuaders II: A 2011 Global Ranking of Soft Power. London: Institute for Government.
McClory J (2015) The Soft Power 30- A Global Ranking of Soft Power. London: Portland Communications.
Mearshiemer J (2010) Structural realism. In: Dunne T, Kurki M, & Smith S (ed). International Relations Theories – Discipline and Diversity. Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Morakinyo A (2012) Local fabric are one of the strongest signs of African culture. Youth Voices Their Perspective, 26 March. [Accessed 29 October 2021]. http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/uncategorized/local-fabrics-remain-one-the-strongest-elements-of-african-culture/.
Mukherjee R (2014) The false promise of India's soft power. Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 6 (1):46-62.
National Commission for Museums and Monuments Nigeria (2020) NCMM profile. [Accessed 29 October 2021]. https://ncmm.gov.ng/.
Ndukwe P (1996) Fulani. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group Inc.
Nye J (2004) Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public Affairs.
Nye J (2009) Get smart: Combining hard and soft power. [Accessed 28 October 2021]. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2009-07-01/get-smart.
Odoh C, Akpi U, & Anyah F (2017) Environmental impacts of mineral exploration and their phytoremediation strategies for sustainable ecosystem. Global Journal of Science Frontier Research: Environmental and Earth Science 17 (3):1-42.
Ogunnubi O & Isike C (2017) Nigeria's soft power sources: Between potential and illusion? International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 31 (4):49-67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-017-9258-6.
Ogunnubi O & Uzodike U (2016) Can Nigeria be Africa's hegemon? African Security Review 25 (2): 110-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2016.1147473.
Onubogu O (2020) Protests test Nigeria's democracy and its leadership in Africa. USIP, 22 October. [Accessed 30 October 2021]. https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/10/protests-test-nigeriasdemocracy-and-its-leadership-africa.
Pallaver P (2011) Power and its forms: Hard, soft, smart. [Accessed 18 May 2022]. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/220/.
Patalakh A (2016) Assessment of soft power strategies: Towards an aggregative analytical model for country-focused case study research. Croatian International Relations Review 22 (76):85-112. https://doi.org/10.1515/cirr-2016-0007.
Raimzhanova A (2015) Power in IR: Hard, soft and smart. [Accessed 15 May 2022]. http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/content/pdf/participant-papers/2015-12_annual/Power-In-Ir-ByRaimzhanova,-A.pdf.
Rufai O (2018) Nigeria and the failure to boost foreign direct investment. [Accessed 5 November 2021]. https://www.stearsng.com/article/nigeria-and-the-failure-of-foreign-investment/.
Schwab K (2019) The Global Competitiveness Report 2019. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Tella O (2018) Is Nigeria a soft power state? Social Dynamics 44 (2):376-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2018.1492833.
The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (2020) The Nigeria prizes. [Accessed 28 October 2021]. https://www.nigerialng.com/csr/Pages/The-Nigeria-Prizes.aspx.
Times Higher Education (2021) World University Ranking 2021. [Accessed 19 November 2021]. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2021/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/locations/NG/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats.
Trading Economics (2020) Nigeria corruption rank: 2022 data - 2023 forecast - 1996-2021 historical - chart. [Accessed 10 November 2021]. https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/corruption-rank.
UNCTAD Report (2020) Country fact sheet: Nigeria Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) overview, selected years (Millions of dollars and per cent). [Accessed 20 June 2022]. https://unctad.org/fdistatistics.
UNDP (2019) Human Development Report-2019. [Accessed 30 October 2021]. http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/2019-human-development-index-ranking.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2020) Nigeria. [Accessed 29 October 2020]. http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/NG.
WIPO (2019) World Intellectual Property Indicators 2019. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Yavuzaslan K & Cetin M (2016) Soft power concept and soft power indexes. In: Bilgin M, Danis H, Demir E, & Can U (ed) Business Challenges in the Changing Economic Landscape - Vol. 1. Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics, vol 2/1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22596-8_28.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright of this journal is possession of Editorial Board and Journal Manager, by the knowledge of the author, while the moral right of the publication belongs to the author.
The formal legal aspect of journal publication accessibility refers to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA), implies that publication can be used for non-commercial purposes in its original form (cannot be modified).
Every publication (printed/electronic) are open access for educational purposes, research, and library. Other than the aims mentioned above, the editorial board is not responsible for copyright violation.
