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Nigeria Relations with Neighboring States
Nigeria had cordial relations with all its
neighbors--Benin,
Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea--as well as
with
other countries in the West African subregion, with most
of which
it had bilateral agreements. There had been occasional
border
disputes with Chad and Cameroon, and military action
against
these neighbors was contemplated by the civilian
government in
1982 and 1983. Another problem arose in the early 1980s,
when
Nigeria decided to expel many illegal immigrants, mainly
Ghanaians, but this dispute also was resolved amicably.
The
guiding principle of Nigeria's regional foreign policy was
that
of good neighborliness and friendship. In this spirit, it
helped
to resolve conflicts between Liberia and Sierra Leone,
Burkina
Faso and Mali, and Togo and Ghana. Nigeria also tried to
make its
neighbors "safe" friends, partly to reenforce boundary
claims and
protect human rights of Nigerian citizens who were
migrantworkers and partly to stabilize relations between the
immediate
neighboring countries. For example, since 1988 it has
established
a strong presence in Equatorial Guinea.
To pursue the economic interests through of foreign
relations
within West Africa, Nigeria championed the formation of
ECOWAS
and, in spite of competing allegiances to rival
organizations
within the subcontinent, continued to support the
organization's
objectives. Strengthening ECOWAS promoted Nigeria's
national
interests through encouraging development of the region's
economy
and discouraging its neighbors' reliance on extra-African
countries for military, political, and economic survival,
thus
serving such security interests as weakening colonial
divisions
within West Africa, ending border disputes, contributing
to
African unity, and strengthening West Africa's bargaining
positions vis-à-vis the EEC.
Data as of June 1991
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