Foreign Policy: Dataphyte Assesses Tinubu’s First Year, Wants Tangible Returns from Diplomatic Shuttles
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Participants at a programme by the Dataphyte Foundation, a social impact organisation dedicated to leveraging data tools and technology for Nigeria’s socio-economic development, have called for tangible results from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s frequent foreign travels.
Moderated by the Board Chair of the organisation, Yop Pam, the online event focused on evaluating the influence of the president’s foreign policy on Nigeria’s democratic growth during his first year in office.
It featured prominent experts including: A research fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Dr. Omosefe Oyekanmi, Dataphyte’s Insight Lead, Oluseyi Olufemi as well as participants from civil society, government, media, and the academia.
Speaking on the administration’s diplomatic efforts, Oyekanmi noted that although one year is not enough to fairly assess Tinubu’s administration, but current steps already taken will help to give a projection of what the coming years will look like.
“This administration has been quite robust with engagements at bilateral and multilateral levels. There is a clear intent to push Nigeria to advantageous positions to make profitable negotiations.
“This approach is also similar to previous administrations, but the key challenge remains the effective implementation of signed agreements,” Oyekanmi remarked.
She stressed that the government had signed a number of agreements, including a gas deal as well as a renewable energy agreement, but explained that unlike previous governments, this one must be willing to ensure that the diplomatic shuttles translate to tangible gains.
According to her, although the Tinubu administration appears to have been pushing to gain Nigeria’s regional hegemony, the country has to regain its domestic power first.
She listed some of the issues detracting from the country’s efforts to gain international respect as those of corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency among others, stressing that things will become easier on the foreign scene when Nigeria gets its local policies right.
The webinar offered a platform for a detailed situation analysis of Nigeria’s progress in engaging with foreign diplomacy under Tinubu’s administration.
The discussions highlighted how the administration’s Renewed Hope Mandate, centred on the four Ds – Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora – is shaping Nigeria’s foreign policy landscape.
Also, providing more perspective on the endeavours of Tinubu’s approach to foreign policy in his first year, a researcher, Patrick Adewunmi, noted that Tinubu’s first year featured extensive diplomatic efforts and initiatives to attract foreign investments.
However, he stated that the tangible economic benefits were yet to be realised, noting that Nigeria needed to sort out its ‘identify’ crisis to know its place in the comity of nations.
He advised that Nigeria must align its actions with the broad policy framework to attain global relevance.
While underscoring the administration’s pursuit of foreign investment and diplomatic shuttles, he stressed the need to prioritise cooperation, rather than confrontation and foster regional cooperation as well as embrace multilateralism.
Speaking on the impact of economic policies on Nigeria’s foreign engagements, Dataphyte’s Insight Lead, Olufemi, said: “We cannot divorce domestic policies from foreign policy. Diplomacy centres on the country’s interests. While the new administration is focused on building wealth, the real challenge lies in improving welfare”.
He also elaborated on Dataphyte’s analyses of Tinubu’s one year in office titled “Tinubu’s One Year in Office: Economy, Employment and Other Entanglements” as part of the series of reports that provide critical insights into how Tinubu has performed.
He said the president’s actions had been largely like a two-edged sword, explaining that the president clearly stated in Africa he embraced democracy, but said he misread the Niger Republic case.
He explained that Niger was different because it was about separating democracy from sovereignty, especially the overbearing influence of France.
Programme Director at Dataphyte Foundation, Femi Amele, in his remarks, thanked participants and panellists for their insightful contributions.
