1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Defense, security, international political interactions, and international economic relat
ions all fall under the heading of foreign policy. It is concerned with the interactions between one international player and other international actors. As previously stated, these other actors can include nations, international organizations, certain sorts of individuals, or the system's surroundings, regardless of whether the aspects involved are social, cultural, or structural. Similarly, many of the social, cultural, political, economic, and other goals that governments strive for in the international system are impossible to attain within the national state's borders. To fulfill their national goals, governments sometimes require active cooperation, if not outright aid, from other nations in the system.
The argument about Nigeria's foreign policy under President Muhammadu Buhari has raged for some time, and many have argued that the country's foreign policy needs to be evaluated. Despite the fact that many people had different motives for wanting Nigeria to reassess its foreign policy, this is what happened. While many believe it is hard for Nigeria to have a coherent and unified foreign policy as a result of domestic challenges, others believe it is nearly impossible to construct a new policy orientation.
The Nigerian state's image crisis, which has left her with a poor image in the international community, has made it difficult to promote or advertise Nigeria, as Ajayi (2005) termed it, the “diplomatic market”. Ajayi (2005) Laundering the country's tattered image in the international arena, he noted, is as difficult as trying to create image for international terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and Boko Haram. It's no surprise that as Nigeria's elected leader, President Muhmmadu Buhari took the brunt of the responsibility for restoring the country's tarnished image. The regime's foreign policy has been focused on investment reforms, bilateral trade, security, and anti-corruption domestic and foreign policies. As a result, Nigeria's foreign policy posture shifted dynamically from a primarily Afrocentric thrust to a more universal, economic, and military direction in order to draw international attention. Despite the fact that there is a significant difference in the styles of previous administrations, Buhari has been chastised for his lack of seriousness of purpose. The administration was seen as lacking the political will to save its image, and the current administration has been chastised for misdirecting political will and resources. As a result, several debates have erupted concerning the propriety of their foreign policy strategies, the amount of their triumphs, and the long-term viability of their actions. Therefore this study centers on assessment of Nigeria’s foreign policy under president Muhammadu buhari administration (2015-2019)
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Every foreign policy's purpose is to establish and maintain friendly relations with other countries, as well as to promote a country's image and meet its national and internal objectives. This invariably indicates that a strong foreign policy is critical in forming, establishing, and keeping a positive image for a country. Nigeria's reputation, on the other hand, is at an all-time low under Muhammadu Buhari's leadership. Violent crimes are said to be a stumbling block to Nigeria's progress. Nigeria has earned a spot among the world's least safe countries as a result of Boko Haram terrorism, Niger Delta issues, and IPOB agitations (Martin, 2016). These (and other) groups' violent crimes have resulted in the deaths of over 1.3 million Nigerians, the displacement of over 20,000 people, a lack of national integration, and ethno-religious chauvinism. Nigeria's image tarnishes as a result of corruption and a perplexing lack of transparency and accountability, while she simultaneously loses large amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) and her energetic young human resources who migrate because they believe the country has little or nothing to offer them. As a result, the country is unable to effectively combat internal insurgencies and has a tarnished reputation for poor governance. This weakens the economy while also increasing insecurity and bad governance. Indeed, according to Transparency International's (TI) 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Nigeria was ranked 148th out of 180 countries surveyed, a drop from 136th in TI's 2014, 2015, and 2016 rankings, making a mockery of the Nigerian government's lauded anti-corruption drive. This is compounded by the fact that Buhari's administrations, like many others in Nigeria, have always had strong foreign policies. Nigeria's foreign policy problem, which is harming the country's image, is not in its formulation, but in its implementation. The study centers on the assessment of Nigeria’s foreign policy under President Muhammadu Buhari administration (2015-2019)
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are an assessment of Nigeria’s foreign policy under President Muhammadu Buhari administration. other specific objective includes:
1) To examine the evolution and development of the Nigerian foreign policy
2) To asses president Buhari’s Foreign policy from 2015-2019
3) To evaluate the performance of Muhammadu Buharis foreign policy?
4) To recommend ways of improving the Nigerian foreign policy under Buhari.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1) What is the evolution and development of the Nigerian foreign policy?
2) What are president Buhari’s Foreign policies from 2015-2019?
3) To evaluate the performance of Muhammadu Buharis foreign policy?
4) What are the ways of improving the Nigerian foreign policy under Buhari?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study would enable the researcher to pass their experience on the subject matter to government ministries, schools, students to serve as a medium for further research.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
An Assessment of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy under President Muhammadu Buhari Administration (2015-2019)
1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The researcher was faced with the following constraints in carrying out this study:
Time: The time within the researcher is too short to carry on the detail study on this topic.
Resources: Another constraint of the researcher is financial resources to carry on the detail study of this topic.Data: Another limitation to this study will be lack of data to make valid study on the research problem.
1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
FOREIGN POLICY: A state's foreign policy or external policy is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, whether bilaterally or through multilateral platforms
ASSESEMENT: the action of assessing someone or something
REFERENCES
Ajayi, K. (2005). Nigeria's foreign policy and image crisis. AJPAM, 16(2), 50-63.
Duke, O. O. and Agbaji, D. D. (2017). The pursuit of good governance and the anti-financial corruption blitz in Nigeria: A study of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) (2003-2016). Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 2(4), 1-16
Martin, W. (2016). The 13 most dangerous countries in the world. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/most-dangerous-countries-in-the-world-criminalityindex-aF450266.html/
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