Assessment of National Interest in Foreign Policy Making in Africa : Nigeria as a Case Study

Abstract

The paper examines the assessment of national interest in foreign policy making in Africa: Nigeria as a case study. The concentric circle of Nigeia’s foreign policy is geared towards the promotion of her national interest,the definition or articulation of national interest varies from one nation to another. Political leaders in Africa countries and Europe invoke the word to validate their actions as a means of promoting the interests of their nations even when these interest are not favourable to other nations. In Africa as well as other nations in the world,  national interest is taken seriously because it is one of the core objectives of foreign policy. The study adopted  chronological and explorative research design .  Findings from the study clearly revealed that although scholars argued that the concept is ambiguous but  agreed to a large extent that national interest refers to the interests that are crucial to states  and are encapsulated in socio economic development, political stability, geographical factors, as well as  historical ties. The study recommends that the scholars of international relations should provide an explicit definition of national interest, while government functionaries should give precedence  to national interest by paying  attention to the welfare of their citizens.