Globalization and Its Impact on Nigeria’s Foreign Policy
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to investigate globalization and its impacts on Nigeria’s foreign policy: Specifically:
- To examine the impact of Globalization in Nigeria’s foreign policy.
- To identify the reason why globalization has impacted into Nigeria’s foreign policy.
- To investigate the role played by globalization into Nigeria foreign policy.
- To examine the relationships between globalization and its impact on Nigeria’s foreign policy.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter gives an insight into various studies conducted by outstanding researchers, as well as explained terminologies with regards to globalization and its impact on Nigeria’s foreign policy. The chapter also gives a resume of the history and present status of the problem delineated by a concise review of previous studies into closely related problems.
Concept of Globalization
The concept of globalization is devoid of a generally accepted definition and as such, there exist numerous definitions of globalization which were more or less the number of authors on the subject. Among the definitions is that of Fawole, (2003:26) which takes globalization to mean the process of change towards greater international economic integration through trade, financial flows, exchange of technology, information and movement of people. This definition captured the central nature of globalization which is its dynamism.
Globalization is a non-static phenomenon. It is an everwidening wave of inter-connection. As globalization widens, the world shrinks. According to Sosa (n.d.).
Whether one regards it as an illusion or not, our modern world seems to be shrinking. It is amazing how the dimensions of our planet are being reduced by the rapid diffusion of information and cultural merging. News and reports of the most shocking incidents go around the globe in a matter of minutes. Traveling from one point of the earth to the most exotic resort is possible in just a few hours. Nowadays you can find yourself at a traditionally Chinese area eating McDonald’s or visiting the most famous European sites while you listen to Latin-American music everywhere. You can be in Kazakhstan watching MTV programs or in El Salvador eating Burger King’s hamburgers. People in Africa and Asia crave at the most, a “Western” way of living; communistic nations follow the economic features of democratic states. The examples are endless but they all are a result of the most influential and striking 20th century phenomenon known as globalization.
Globalization is also the increasing flow of goods, services, capital, technology, information, ideas and labour at the global level driven by universal policies and technological changes (Ayuba and Okafor, 2014). This definition is consistent with the examples of the manifestations of globalization in Sosa (n.d.) where McDonald’s could be found in China (flow of goods and services); and news and reports of shocking incidents reaches even the remotest part of the globe in a matter of minutes (flow of information), etc.
The confusion and controversy beclouding the true meaning of globalization might have informed James Rosenau’s decision that it is safer to say what globalization is not than what it is.
Globalization is not the same as globalism, which points to aspirations for an end state of affairs wherein values are shared by or pertinent to all the world’s five billion people, their environment, their roles as citizens, consumers or producers with an interest in collective action designed to solve common problems. Nor is it universalism—values which embrace all humanity, hypothetically or actually (Rosenau 1996).
Oman, (1996, p. 5) in Beerkens, (2006) evaded definition and took to description:
‘’Globalization is the growth, or more precisely the accelerated growth, of economic activity across national and regional political boundaries. It finds expression in the increased movement of tangible and intangible goods and services, including ownership rights, via trade and investment, and often people, via migration. It can and often is facilitated by a lowering of government impediments to that movement, and/or by technological progress, notably in transportation and communications. The action of individual economic actors, firms, banks, people, drive it, usually in the pursuit of profit, often spurred by the pressures of competition. Globalization is thus a centrifugal process, a process of economic outreach, and a microeconomic phenomenon.”
We take globalization in this study to mean the widening of the interconnections of the socio-cultural, economic and political sectors of the countries of the world due to the liberalization of trade, finance and investment and technological advancements.
Concept of Foreign Policy
Just like globalization above as well as most of the concepts in the Social Sciences, the concept of foreign policy has been viewed from variegated perspectives and lacked a generally accepted definition. Rosenau, (1974) for example conceives of foreign policy as authoritative actions taken by governments or are committed to take in order either to maintain the desirable aspects of the international environment or to amend its undesirable aspects. This definition brings to the fore the very essence of foreign policies by countries of the world which is hinged on two pillars: maintenance and change. Countries favoured by the status quo struggle to have the condition maintained while the disfavoured countries pursue policies for change. Foreign policy spells out the objectives that state leaders have decided to pursue in a given relationship or situation, as well as the general means they intend to pursue those objectives (Goldstein, 2003). The means referred to above are otherwise known as tools including:
Tools of intelligence and information
- Information and intelligence gathering
- Dissemination of information, analysis, and ideas
- Dissemination of propaganda and misinformation
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter covers the description and discussion on the various techniques and procedures used in the study to collect and analyze the data as it is deemed appropriate
Research Design
For this study, the survey research design was adopted. The choice of the design was informed by the objectives of the study as outlined in chapter one. This research design provides a quickly efficient and accurate means of assessing information about a population of interest. It intends to study globalization and its impact on Nigeria’s foreign policy. The study will be conducted in Shomolu local government area.
Population of the Study
The population for this study were all working-class people in Shomolu local government area of Lagos, Nigeria. A total of 134 respondents were selected from the population figure out of which the sample size was determined. The reason for choosing Shomolu local government area is because of its proximity to the researcher.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Introduction
This chapter deals with the presentation and analysis of the result obtained from questionnaires. The data gathered were presented according to the order in which they were arranged in the research questions and simple percentage were used to analyze the demographic information of the respondents while the chi square test was adopted to test the research hypothesis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
SUMMARY
Globalization has undoubtedly brought some challenges such as polarization of wealth and poverty, elongation of gap between the North (Developed countries) and South (Developing countries), and erosion of part of powers and activities of the nation-states, it has therefore become imperative for states in the South including Nigeria to reassess its relations with other national governments and transnational actors as international organization and multinational corporations. This is with a view to repositioning itself for these challenges. In an era of globalization, these challenges have unnaturally downplayed multilateralism and, in its stead, uplifted unilateralism. This is because globalization has heralded such phenomena as marketization and territorialization. It has also evolved strong competition among nation-states. The onus is now on the states in the South including Nigeria to respond to these challenges. Again, such happenings in the international arena as nuclearism, Islamic fundamentalism and climate change phenomenon, which have wider implications for developing country as Nigeria have meant that Nigeria should refocus and reformulate its foreign policy purely from its national interests rather than through the prism of African-centered policy. This study concludes that the polymorphism of events has made it imperative for Nigeria to work out a counteractive foreign policy that is capable of meeting the challenges posed by globalization.
CONCLUSION
Globalization has brought profound changes in the foreign policy of Nigeria. It brought new actors, engendered a shift from the afrocentric past and opened a floodgate of new and thorny issues such as transnational terrorism, climate change, human rights and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons; in the milieu of Nigerian foreign policy. It killed the “foreign” in foreign policy with its whirling denationalization wave to such an extent that it is quite difficult if not impossible to distinguish between domestic and external issues.
REFERENCES
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- Ashiru O (2013). “Nigeria‟s Foreign Policy”, THISDAY LIVE, April 16th. Data accessed on 7 May, 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigeria-s-foreign-policynewrealities-in-a-changing-world/144998/
- Ayobola (2012). Globalization and Nigeria’s Foreign Policy: A Study of President Obasanjo’s Regime (1999-2007). A project submitted to the Department of Political Science and International Relations College of Business and Social Sciences Covenant University Ota; in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master (M.Sc.) in International Relations.
- Ayuba C, Okafor G (2014). Globalization and Global Terrorism: An Analysis. Available at SSRN. Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=2517419.
- Beerkens E (2006). “Globalisation: Definitions and Perspectives.” Retrieved from http://www.beerkens.info/files/globalisation.pdf.
- Close Up Foundation (2013). National Interest and The Tools of Foreign Policy A Lesson Plan for Teachers. WWW.CLOSEUP.ORG
- Ezirim G (n.d). Fifty Years of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy: A Critical Review accessed from http://www.academia.edu/345652/Fifty_Years_of_Nigeria_’s_Foreign_Policy_A_Critical_Review
