Buhariplomacy and New Nigeria: The Choice between National and Global Competitiveness
The election of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as the fourth President of Nigeria under the Fourth Republic has constituted a beacon of new hope to the extent that the President-elect is now expected to perform miracles. If the expectations are limited to Nigerians only, it will be manageable but international expectations have been added to those of Nigerians. This simply implies that foreign policy has the potential to play a major role in the making of a New Nigeria. What Nigerians and the international community are expecting is a Nigeria that has the capacity to compete globally, and not only whose global competitiveness is ranked highly but also which is completely free from toga of reckless irrationalities. This is why the inauguration ceremony of Major General Muhammadu Buhari, come May 29, 2015 cannot but be very unique.
First, the last week in May of every year is always important and busy in Nigeria for various reasons. Every May 25 is the anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The organization was founded in 1975 on the initiative of Nigeria and support of Republic of Togo. In fact, the whole week, without doubt, provides another opportunity for various meetings and reflections on the future of the regional organization.
Every May 27 is youth day which is globally celebrated. It is a public holiday for fun-making for the children and the youth. In the same vein, since the advent of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic in 1999, May 29 has been set aside as Democracy Day in Nigeria. It was on this day that military rule and power was nipped in the bud and that, in the past sixteen years, efforts have been consistently made to consolidate dividends of democracy in the country,
Secondly, this year’s May 29 coincides with a change of government in which, for the first time in Nigeria’s political history, there is democratic transition from a civilian ruling party to another civilian dispensation. Before now, Nigerians have been used to transfer of power from military to military through coup d’état, or transfer of power from the military to the civilians, or from civilian to civilian but within the same ruling party. May 29, 2015 will be the first time that there will be transfer of power from a ruling party to an opposition party, and for that matter, without blood-letting.
It is mainly for this reason that the perception and rating of Nigeria in international politics is increasingly becoming more important, and therefore deserving greater attention. The international community, whose calculations included outbreak of post-election violence, is now much delighted to expect what will become of Nigeria under the President-elect. And expectedly too, many world leaders will be in Nigeria on May 29, 2015 to share the joy of inauguration of President Buhari and unbroken 16 years of democratization in Nigeria. It is useful to state here that the quest for joy sharing is nothing more than a political investment into the future. Additionally, the coming of world leaders on May 29, 2015 also falls within the mandate of global governance and global competitiveness both of which are designed to monitor and control developing countries of the world.
In a world of interdependence, Nigeria cannot be an island of its own. However, it has become necessary to reposition Nigeria in order to prepare her for the challenges of global governance and competitiveness. In this regard, a choice between national and global competitiveness has to be made and factored into the making of buhariplomacy, without which the making of a new Nigeria may become more difficult to achieve. Many international observers gang up with many civil society organizations to complain about societal ills in the country but who amongst them really and sincerely want Nigeria to survive in this world of conflicting national interests. Before engagement in global competitiveness, President Buhari should first settle with national and sustainable competitiveness.
Global Competitiveness
‘Global competitiveness’ is a contemporary concept in international relations, which became more pronounced in 2005 with the establishment of a World Economic Forum which has since been publishing a yearly Global Competitiveness Report within the framework of The Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network. The yearly report is a special research project which seeks to review national competitiveness with the ultimate objective of improving it or removing irritants militating against it. A Global Agenda Council on Competitiveness is set up for this purpose and has been carrying out its analysis on the basis of a scientifically-defined Global Competitiveness Index (GCI).
The GCI is comprised of three groups of indicators: Basic Requirements, which account for 40%, are institutions, infrastructure, macro-economic environment and health and primary education; Efficiency Enhancers, which account for 50%, are higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness and market size; and Innovation and sophistication factors which account for only 10%: business sophistication and innovation.
From the foregoing, there is no disputing the fact that global competitiveness is more economic in conception. It is essentially about the protection of capitalism under the guise that the World Economic Forum is seeking an improvement in the state of the world. Consequently, when talking about a Nigerian foreign policy or buhariplomacy for global competitiveness, the analytical challenge is how foreign policy should be applied to the Global Competitiveness Index, that is, how foreign policy applies to the basic requirements, efficiency enhancers, and innovation and sophistication factors.
It is important to note here that the under-mentioned critical issues in global competitiveness are basically associated with the containment of threats to global peace and security, peaceful coexistence, economic growth and development, as well as management of natural disasters and effects of climate change. Therefore, its understanding should not be limited to economic factors only. Even though global competitiveness is defined by economic indicators, it is still more political than economic in conception and strategic calculations. Consequently, Nigeria does not need any foreign policy for global competitiveness but for a new and greater Nigeria in which emphasis will be placed on strategic withdrawal from international affairs with the ultimate objective of rebuilding Nigeria in order to be more able to respond better to global challenges in the future. This strategy can be likened to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine in the United States or to a defensive-offensive military strategy. Put differently, there should be a foreign policy of empowerment of Nigeria in the area of military-industrial complex, economic growth, development and self-reliance, etc, not for the purposes of just seeking to compete in the immediate but to have a Nigeria that will have the status of a great power, be economically resilient, militarily strong, internationally respected and consulted on merit, and whose opinion cannot be rejected in Africa without repercussion, in the long run.
The foreign policy required for global competitiveness in Nigeria is that of grandeur in all its ramifications. This simply means that Nigeria should expect to compete with the great powers, and particularly with the primus interpares in the long run. What is currently required now is therefore national competitiveness at the level of intra-Nigerian research and development institutions, adoption of policies aimed at transformation of the transportation sector, especially rail and aviation, and perhaps most importantly, developing a new attitudinal change at the level of all Nigerians. Nigeria should be a reserved competitor, in the way the US was when the Japanese miscalculated and attacked US Pearl Harbour during World War II but not knowing that the Americans had already developed higher firing power (possession of atomic bomb: the Fat Man which was not known to the Japanese as at the time they).
Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and Global Competitiveness
In many different ways but complementary manner, Nigeria’s foreign policy has been a major instrument of global competitiveness right from 1960. The geo-political location of Nigeria, her big population and big market naturally prompt many countries to engage in stiff competition for economic gains in Nigeria. Besides, it is no gainsaying that Nigeria was not only destined to be a great country right from the time of independence, but has also been making strenuous efforts to lay a foundation for her leadership of Africa. However, the efforts are yet to yield positive results
For instance, in terms of consideration of the economic factors of global competitiveness, it is evident that Nigeria competed well from 2011 through 2013 as Nigeria was ranked the 127th, out of the 144 countries surveyed in 2011-2012 by the World Economic Forum. With this, Nigeria scored 3.4 on a total of obtainable 7 points. Nigeria’s competitiveness improved in 2012-2013 with 115th position out of the 144 countries examined and a score of 3.7 on 7 points. In 2013-2014, however, the competitiveness could not be sustained. Nigeria was ranked in the 120th position out of 148 countries and was scored 3.6 over 7 points. In 2015, Nigeria still remains in the 127th position, with 3.4 over 7 points, just as it was in 2011-2012.
At the level of the basic requirements (institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment and health and primary education), which account for 60%, Nigeria did not compete well except in the macroeconomic environment where Nigeria has been ranked in the 76th position and has scored 4.6 over 7 points. Regarding institutions, Nigeria was ranked 129th with a score of 3.2 over 7 points; 134th position with a score of 3.0 over 7 points in the infrastructural sector; and 143rd position also with 3.0 over 7 points in the health and primary education sector.
On efficiency enhancers which account for 35% (Higher education and training, Goods Market Efficiency, Labour Market Efficiency, Financial Market Development, Technological Readiness, and Market Size), Nigeria’s competitiveness was best at the level of Market Size with 33rd position and 4.7 over 7 points and 40th position and 4.5 over 7 points in the Labour Market Efficiency. The 67th position and a score of 4.1 over 7 points in the Financial Market Development is equally commendable. However, the ranking of Nigeria in the 124th position and with a score of 2.9 over 7 points in the Higher Education and Training sector is most unfortunate. Education and training is the first pillar of enduring national development which ought to take priority over Goods Market Efficiency where Nigeria is ranked in the 87th position with a score of 4.2 over 7 points. With 3.0 points on 7, Nigeria is ranked in the 104th position in the area of Technological Readiness.
More interestingly too, in the area of Innovation and Sophistication factors (business sophistication and innovation both of which account for 5%), Nigeria’s competitiveness is far from being good with 114th position and a score of 2.8 over 7 points in innovation; and 87th position and 3.8 over 7 points in business Sophistication.
At the level of Africa, it should be noted that smaller and poorer countries are better placed than Nigeria in the 2014-2015 Global Competitiveness Index. For instance, Namibia is placed 88th out of 144 countries; Seychelles is ranked 92nd; Gabon 106th position; Lesotho is ranked 107th: Ghana is ranked 111th, Senegal is ranked 112nd while Cape Verde is in the 114th position. Nigeria as a bigger country with the biggest economy in Africa is ranked 127th out of 144 countries. If Mali is coming after Nigeria with 128th position, Burkina Faso with 135th position, Burundi with 139th position, Angola with 140th position, Mauritania with 141th position, Chad with 143rd position, and Guinea in the last position, 144th, it is quite understandable. Poverty in all these countries, with the exception of Libya and Angola, is evident. There is no reason why Nigeria, Libya, etc, should, at least, not be in the category of South Africa (56th position).
The relevance of the foregoing is the implication for buhariplomacy. In other words, which type of foreign policy is required to impact on the foregoing economic indicators of global competitiveness? Besides, if Nigeria is not doing well at the level of the economic factors, does it mean than Nigeria is not competing well in other global areas of interest? Is the area of Peace Support Operations not a global question? Which country in Africa can lay claim to doing better than Nigeria, especially in terms of sustained commitment?
Nigeria’s foreign policy, for the purposes of a New Nigeria, for a great power status in the near future, will need to address the obstacles to global competitiveness. As Corrigan et al have noted in the WEF 2014-2015 report: ‘Nigeria is encountering sustainability challenges, especially in the social domain. Access to basic services remains very low for millions of Nigerians: only 28% of the population has access to basic hygiene, and less than 65% enjoys improved water. Similarly, safety nets and healthcare services are available only to a minority of people. These issues…may jeopardize the future competitiveness of the country as they limit the country’s human capital (Gemma Corrigan, Roberto Crotti, Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, and Cecilia Serin, “Assessing Progress toward Sustainable Competitiveness,’ in Klaus Schwab, ed., The Global Competitiveness Report, 2014-2015 (Geneva, 2015), vide Chapter 1.2). This is the first challenge President Buhari must prepare to address for the purposes of a new Nigeria.
Buhariplomacy and the Way Forward
In this regard, the foreign policy required for global competitiveness is one that is driven by quest for greatness and self-reliance in focus, guided by reciprocity in principle and application, predicated on citizen diplomacy in design and making, and sustained by strong economic and military power.
Nigeria’s foreign policy cannot and should not for now seek competition with any great power but set a time frame for selfdevelopment in order to increase her power of influence and bargaining in international relations. The foreign policy required should be oriented towards making Nigeria an Eldorado that will be the target of international tourists, investors and source of sweet inspirations.
In a nutshell, the foreign policy should be very Nigerian and selfish in making to begin with, protective of the Nigerian interest, constructive and beneficial to all Nigerians in calculations, and collectively sustained and defended by all Nigerians. It must be a foreign policy that is largely patriotism-evolved, designed and predicated on citizen diplomacy in application and mainly oriented towards improving Nigeria’s capacity to compete and to increase her bargaining power. Above all such foreign policy must focus greater attention on research and development in all aspects of national and international life.