For decades, Britain’s foreign policy was centred around the concept of gunboat diplomacy. This Benin Republic coup gives President Tinubu the opportunity to launch a similar helicopter gunship diplomacy plan

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria has a very weak foreign policy as her Ecowas neighbours defy Abuja at will and with impunity. Across Mali, Guinea, Chad, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic, military juntas have seized power in defiance of Nigeria. Once upon a time, the penalty for defying Nigeria was so severe, very few tried it across West Africa

[2] Unless we want Western nations coming into our backyard to tell us how to live, Nigeria needs to get her act together fast. For starters, Ecowas has a population of about 425m. Nigeria should be the sole gateway to this huge market. Nature abhors a vacuum, so if Nigeria refuses to take on the role of regional superpower, we should stop complaining when the French or other colonialists do

[3] I sometimes wonder if Nigeria has any foreign policy at all because if she did, it would include immediate regional intervention in any African country where there is a military coup. Nobody would be able to fault West Africans sorting out their own problems as Nigeria did in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s

[4] Do you also know that 16 of Africa’s 55 countries are landlocked? For me, it is a crime against humanity for a nation to be landlocked and Nigeria’s foreign policy should include eliminating this scourge across Africa. We should have a plan to merge many of these small and unviable nation states

[5] Only a dishonest person will argue that it is acceptable for 16 of the world’s 44 landlocked countries to be in Africa. Maybe we should start by getting Ethiopia and Djibouti to negotiate a merger. Djibouti is not sustainable as a nation state and at the moment, it serves as Ethiopia’s Apapa anyway. A formal merger is inevitable

[6] In West Africa, I see Nigeria merging with Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Cameroon to form the Federal Republic of Songhai. Just imagine what a giant would achieve. I covet Niger Republic’s Sahara Desert landmass, which I want to turn into the world’s largest solar park. Their uranium deposits would also come in handy

[7] For now, we need to go back to the drawing board and rethink our foreign policy objectives. I would urge President Tinubu to study the provisions of the Monroe Doctrine in detail. I look forward to the day Nigeria’s Grande Armée will roll out across the West African plains as Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces did in the early 19th century

[8] One of the reasons why I hate the secession argument with every muscle in my body is because it is myopic. Those who advocate the balkanisation of Nigeria fail to realise that small nations like Niger Republic get dictated to. Large nations on the other hand command immediate respect. The large dominate the small!

[9] In Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Togo, Guinea, Niger Republic, etc, the governments do what Nigeria tells them to do. I would hate to live in such a country where I am at the mercy of my large neighbour

[10] This latest Benin Republic coup could be Tinubu’s defining moment. He should use it to change Nigeria’s foreign policy irrevocably. Imagine coming up with a Tinubu Doctrine that keeps the likes of the US and France out of African politics forever

ayoakinfe@gmail.com