NIGERIA’S GREAT RESET – PART 21
NIGERIA IN THE WORLD: TINUBU’S FOREIGN POLICY AND THE RETURN OF DIPLOMATIC INFLUENCE
By Gloria Fraser, MFR
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pursued an assertive foreign policy built around demography, development, diaspora and democracy, widening Nigeria’s strategic relationships while seeking investment, trade, security cooperation and greater influence.
OPENING REFLECTION
“Nigeria affirms its rightful place among the world’s great democracies.”
— President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Inaugural Address, 29 May 2023
Foreign policy is the bridge between national ambition and international opportunity. Tinubu has spent three years widening that bridge.
Presidential travel inevitably attracts scrutiny. The proper question is not simply how many countries a President visits, but what Nigeria gains from those journeys.
Diplomacy should open doors to investment, markets, technology, security cooperation, jobs and political influence.
THE 4D DOCTRINE: DIPLOMACY WITH PURPOSE
Tinubu’s foreign policy is organised around Demography, Development, Diaspora and Democracy.
The philosophy recognises Nigeria’s huge population as economic and diplomatic capital, puts development at the centre of international engagement, treats Nigerians abroad as strategic assets and retains democracy as an element of African leadership.
In 2026, Tinubu reordered the priorities to place Demography first, reinforcing the principle that Nigerians should be at the centre of foreign policy.
A Yoruba proverb teaches, “Ọ̀rẹ́ ẹni la fi ń mọ̀ ẹni”—a person is also known by the relationships they keep.
Nigeria is deliberately broadening those relationships.
THE WORLD AS NIGERIA’S MARKETPLACE
Foreign policy is also a national shop window. If the shop remains closed, investors and customers go elsewhere.
In India, Tinubu’s 2023 Presidential Roundtable generated nearly $14 billion in announced investment pledges, including proposed investments by Indorama and Jindal Steel.
In the United Arab Emirates, engagement helped repair strained aviation and diplomatic relations while reopening opportunities for trade and investment.
His Qatar state visit produced seven agreements spanning investment, enterprise, education and other sectors. Engagement with Saudi Arabia combined investment diplomacy with security cooperation, including an announced $600 million proposed port investment.
In the Netherlands, approximately $250 million in prospective Dutch investments was announced, including a proposed $100 million waste-to-wealth facility.
These are pledges and prospective investments, not completed projects. Their ultimate value depends upon implementation.
CHINA: A STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP
Tinubu’s September 2024 state visit to China elevated bilateral relations with President Xi Jinping to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Cooperation covered infrastructure, economic development, technology, satellite navigation, agriculture and energy.
The opportunity is to move Nigeria-China relations beyond borrowing and imports towards manufacturing, technology transfer, agricultural exports, skills and domestic value creation.
Tinubu’s participation in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation also positioned Nigeria within Beijing’s wider African economic strategy.
EUROPE: PARTNERSHIP, NOT DEPENDENCY
Tinubu’s 2024 state visit to France—the first by a Nigerian President in more than two decades—advanced cooperation in energy transition, defence, education, innovation and business.
His 2026 engagement with Britain strengthened cooperation in trade, infrastructure, defence, counter-terrorism and transnational crime, alongside commercial arrangements connected with Nigerian port redevelopment.
The objective should be to transform historic European relationships from dependency into mutually beneficial trade, investment, technology and security partnerships.
AFRICA MUST REMAIN CENTRAL
Tinubu became ECOWAS Chairman shortly after assuming office and confronted a difficult period of military coups and democratic instability.
His response to the Niger crisis attracted controversy, while Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso subsequently withdrew from ECOWAS. This demonstrated both the responsibilities and limits of regional leadership.
At the African Union, Nigeria retained its seat on the AU Peace and Security Council in 2025, while Nigerian diplomat Bankole Adeoye was re-elected Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security.
In South Africa, Tinubu and President Cyril Ramaphosa used the Bi-National Commission to deepen cooperation across trade, energy, aviation, telecommunications, manufacturing and infrastructure.
His May 2026 visit to Rwanda for the Africa CEO Forum put Nigeria’s investment proposition before major African and international business leaders.
In Kenya, Tinubu advocated stronger African economic integration and reform of the international financial architecture.
In Equatorial Guinea, an agreement on the Gulf of Guinea Gas Pipeline Project strengthened energy cooperation alongside discussions on regional security.
Africa must remain the foundation of Nigeria’s global ambition.
SAINT LUCIA: RECONNECTING WITH THE CARIBBEAN
Tinubu’s 2025 visit to Saint Lucia extended beyond bilateral diplomacy.
He addressed Parliament and engaged leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, strengthening an Africa-Caribbean diplomatic bridge.
Cooperation covered tourism, investment, culture, creative industries, education, health, trade and technology. Tinubu also offered full-tuition scholarships in Nigerian institutions to students from OECS countries.
The engagement gave practical meaning to the Diaspora pillar of his foreign policy and reconnected Nigeria with communities of African heritage across the Caribbean.
TÜRKİYE, BRAZIL AND BRICS
Tinubu’s January 2026 state visit to Türkiye produced nine agreements covering defence, education, diaspora policy, economic cooperation and communications. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed an ambition to increase bilateral trade from approximately $2 billion to $5 billion.
In Brazil, Tinubu’s 2025 state visit produced five memoranda across agriculture, aviation, finance, science and diplomacy, while advancing the prospective return of Petrobras to Nigeria.
Nigeria’s status as a BRICS partner country further expands its engagement with emerging economies.
This is strategic diversification, not abandonment of the West.
A Hausa proverb says, “Hannu ɗaya ba ya ɗaukar jinka”—one hand alone cannot lift a heavy load.
Nigeria needs many partnerships to carry its development ambitions.
THE CPC CRISIS: DIPLOMACY UNDER PRESSURE
The United States’ October 2025 designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over religious freedom created another diplomatic challenge.
Nigeria faces genuine security and religious-freedom concerns. Christians and Muslims have been murdered, while terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal conflict and religious extremism have devastated communities.
Yet the causes overlap. Nigeria’s insecurity cannot responsibly be reduced to one explanation.
The episode demonstrated that diplomacy involves defending national reputation as well as attracting investment.
WERE THE PRESIDENTIAL TRIPS WORTH IT?
The evidence shows strategic purpose, although final judgment requires implementation.
India produced major pledges; China elevated strategic relations; Qatar and Türkiye produced agreements; Saint Lucia strengthened Caribbean ties; South Africa deepened African cooperation; Rwanda provided access to major investors; Brazil expanded South-South engagement.
But an announcement is not a factory. An MoU is not an investment. A pledge is not employment.
The next task is conversion: presidential access must become investment, jobs, exports, technology and security gains.
THE FINAL WORD
Nigeria possesses a huge population, strategic geography, energy resources, entrepreneurial talent, cultural influence and a global diaspora. Its diplomatic influence should reflect those strengths.
Tinubu has widened Nigeria’s international reach. The challenge is to convert visibility into enduring national advantage.
The Great Reset cannot stop at Nigeria’s borders. A nation seeking renewal at home must also redefine its place abroad.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“National leadership is measured not only by the country it inherits, but by the place it earns for that country among the nations of the world.”
— Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR
THE NATIONAL PATRIOTS’ POSITION
The National Patriots supports President Tinubu’s determination to reposition Nigeria internationally. Presidential travel should be judged by outcomes—not flight counts—when it opens markets, attracts investment, repairs relationships, strengthens security cooperation and raises Nigeria’s influence.
However, every major international agreement should be transparently followed through. Nigerians deserve to know which pledges materialise, what projects commence and how many jobs and opportunities result.
We particularly support strategic autonomy: Nigeria should maintain strong Western relationships while deepening partnerships across Africa, China, India, Brazil, Türkiye, the Gulf and emerging economies.
National Patriots also demonstrated that defending Nigeria’s reputation is not government’s responsibility alone.
Following the U.S. CPC designation, we moved rapidly to prevent a possible diplomatic domino effect, addressing representations to President Donald Trump and the leadership or governments of Britain, the European Union and Canada, urging independent verification rather than automatic adoption of Washington’s position.
Our acknowledged letter to President Trump bears the U.S. Embassy Abuja seal/receipt stamp and registry acknowledgement, documenting its formal receipt. The UK, EU and Canadian correspondence records our wider preventive diplomatic intervention.
We do not claim National Patriots alone determined those governments’ subsequent positions. We do maintain that patriotic civil society should act when Nigeria’s international interests are threatened.
President Tinubu has widened Nigeria’s diplomatic reach. That reach must now become investment, jobs, security cooperation, market access and greater prosperity at home.
Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR
President, The National Patriots
Former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR
Vice-Chairman, Strategic Communications Committee, Buhari PCC 2019
Member, Strategy Committee, Presidency, 2023
