Nigeria is placing a renewed focus on intra-African trade to drive economic growth while attempting to avoid taking sides in disputes between the world\u2019s most powerful nations, its foreign minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yusuf Tuggar said Nigeria sought to benefit from trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area \u2014 the world\u2019s largest free trade area by population \u2014 and backed a push by the African Union to deepen integration between the continent\u2019s regional economic blocs. Speaking at an event in London, he added that US tariffs on imported foreign goods, including a 15% levy on Nigerian exports, were not hurting the countries targeted and could prove to be \u201ca blessing\u201d by creating outsourcing opportunities for Nigerian companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuggar said Nigeria was pursuing a policy of \u201cstrategic autonomy\u201d that means seeking \u201cpragmatic\u201d alliances in international trade, without backing Washington or Beijing where their interests compete, or being drawn into ideological disputes such as condemnation of Russia over its war in Ukraine. This approach to foreign policy also drove Nigeria\u2019s refusal to accept US deportees, said Tuggar, since Africa\u2019s most populous country lacks the space to take in people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has called for a recalibration of Nigeria\u2019s foreign policy to meet the demands of a rapidly changing global order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He made this call while delivering a guest lecture titled \u201cNavigating Realities: Aligning Nigeria\u2019s Foreign Policy Practice with Emerging Global Dynamics\u201d at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing an audience of diplomats, scholars, and policymakers, Ambassador Tuggar commended the NIIA for its six-decade-long role as the country\u2019s intellectual compass on international relations. He emphasised that the Institute\u2019s research and convening power had been critical in shaping Nigeria\u2019s external engagements since independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Minister reflected on Nigeria\u2019s diplomatic journey, recalling the nation\u2019s prominent role in the liberation of Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, and Mozambique, as well as its leadership in the global fight against apartheid in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also highlighted Nigeria\u2019s pivotal contributions to peacekeeping operations in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and The Gambia, and the country\u2019s leadership in the formation of ECOWAS in 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking on global shifts, Ambassador Tuggar observed that the world is entering a new multipolar order, shaped by climate change, artificial intelligence, terrorism, migration pressures, and widening inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He drew parallels with Nigeria\u2019s Cold War\u2013era experience, when the country pursued non-alignment, the Concert of Medium Powers, and the Concentric Circles strategy to maintain independence amidst superpower rivalries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the economic front, he reflected on Africa\u2019s past struggle between the Lagos Plan of Action and the Washington Consensus, stressing that Nigeria must avoid repeating past mistakes of over-reliance on raw material exports and externally imposed policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, he said, the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is anchored on Strategic Autonomy, built on the 4Ds of Foreign Policy: Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ambassador Tuggar clarified that Strategic Autonomy is not duplicity, but pragmatism rooted in Nigeria\u2019s size, resilience, and moral standing. He underscored Africa\u2019s centrality in Nigeria\u2019s diplomacy, citing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a major opportunity for integration and growth, alongside cooperative security frameworks like the MNJTF, ECOWAS, and the African Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also highlighted Nigeria\u2019s leadership in strengthening democracy, noting the launch of the Regional Partnership for Democracy (RPD), developed by the MFA in collaboration with the UNDP. The initiative aims to help West African countries consolidate democratic institutions, foster inclusive governance, and create platforms for dialogue, even in the face of disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Minister concluded by reaffirming Nigeria\u2019s determination to remain a respected, influential, and self-reliant actor in global affairs\u2014one that builds issue-based partnerships while staying true to its principles of justice, equity, and the advancement of Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria is placing a renewed focus on intra-African trade to drive economic growth while attempting to avoid taking sides in disputes between the world\u2019s most powerful nations, its foreign minister said. Yusuf Tuggar said Nigeria sought to benefit from trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area \u2014 the world\u2019s largest free trade area by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-69-e1758784771237.png?fit=500%2C336&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19450"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19455,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19450\/revisions\/19455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}