Op-ed by Deji Gbotosho
The entire world is now connected through technology and diplomacy. The remotest countries have equal access to global opportunities than ever for their growth and development. As part of the developing world, Nigeria, also, can access the multiplicity of diplomatic instruments provided by the several global institutions and alliances we are subscribed to.
We hear of bilateral relationships, United Nations, the Commonwealth, UNHCR, IBRD, IMF, ICJ, Technical Aids Corp, Interpol, FIFA, UNESCO, UNICEF, ADB, WHO, FAO, IATA, etc. The list is juicy and endless. These are not just names, they are institutionalised alliances designed for rapid growth and development in agriculture, health, security, sports, education, technology, aviation, etc.
Any country, without sanctions, has the full right to be part of any of these unifications and is expected to play the politics therein for the overall benefit of its citizenry.
Nigeria has important alliances with most of these bodies not only because we are the most populous ‘black’ nation, but also because of its human capacities, the prevalent intellect of its people.
Nigerians have, at one time or the other, held top management positions in most of these institutions and in addition, even outside these organisations, we have thousands of Nigerians in the global ‘WHO IS WHO’, who can influence global respect and acceptance for the country.
Nonetheless, Nigeria has been contributing its own quota to world peace, refugee crises, democratic best practices, global security, sustainable goals, world health, etc. Individually, Nigerians have excelled and are recognised at the international stage in the fields of technology, agriculture, economics, sports, arts, security, health, commerce, education, and all sorts of human endeavour.
It is confusing that despite all these chest-pumping and accolades we still lack the necessary patronage in global advocacy in times of crises.
We either haven’t properly learnt the rules of engagement or presented the wrong team for negotiations.
What does Audu Ogbe want to tell UNFPA technocrats whenever we seek help in the area of agriculture, or does Babatunde Fashola have any clue how Nigeria can have steady supply of electricity, to enable him discuss alternative energy sources.
It is not by ‘grammar’ but by high level discussions between people who know how it works? It’s appalling for the president to go to a world summit, with glaring opportunities for aids and assistances from the developed world, with mediocre and insignificant entourage.
Look at the challenges created by displaced people due to insurgency. It was a simple refugee issue. We are a subscriber to UNHCR, but couldn’t muster assistance, however little, from that body.
We had to allocate huge scarce resources for the rehabilitation of the IDPs and sadly most of the allocated funds ended up in private pockets and as we speak the government can’t sustain the camps any longer.
We have been called upon severally to assist the world with issues of peacekeeping and refugee.
Till date, we play our role as ‘big Brother’ to several African countries. The simple truth is that we present ourselves poorly to the rest of the world. We still claim ‘giant of Africa’, when in reality we are struggling to maintain a top-ten position.
Agreed, not all presidents have the necessary acumen to play international politics, especially the ones that seize power either by military force or political arrangements. They obviously can’t speak for us in our bid for advocacy. They should be complemented, at such meetings, by fire-brands, who understand and speak the relevant ‘language’.
As long as we still allow patchiness in our international advocacy, we will continue to have less and less international support from the developed world and of course we will continue to be the laughing stock at global meetings, except, well, if we have decided finally to make China our new Messiah of Hope, as I am beginning to hear!
Deji Gbotosho is an Information Technology Consultant and Specialist based in FCT, Abuja, Nigeria
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