IMAGES AND NIGERIA’S FOREIGN POLICY IN THE POST-2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS

Abstract

The main thrust of a state’s actions is viewed from the standpoint of images of its decision-makers. In the 1990s, Nigeria’s image flowed partly from the composite actions and inactions of Babangida’s and Ábacha’s regimes’ annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential elections and the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa and eight others, respectively. Using documentary sources, the paper examines foreign policy decisions and actions that facilitate either positive or negative images of Nigeria from 1999 to 2018 as well as the implications of the image management to the post-2019 general elections. Thus, it establishes that decisions and actions toward some elections processes may likely have positive or negative consequences on Nigeria’s external image in diplomatic and economic relations. It suggests that Nigeria’s foreign policy in the post-2019 general elections be guided and conducted in line with past images of the country.