ABSTRACT

Following independence in 1960, Nigeria intentionally crafted a ‘big brother' honorific title for itself inspired by a Pan-Africanist Afrocentric ideology which it pursues through altruistic sharing of its human, military and economic resources. Successive governments have internalized this Africa-focused foreign policy thrust to establish a putative regional influence in Africa. However, despite belatedly signing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement which seeks to increase intra-African trade and introducing a novel visa-on-arrival policy for African passport holders, the porosity of Nigeria's boundaries continues to pose a threat and has led to the closure of land borders with its West African neighbours in August 2019. This article examines the implications of Nigeria's schizophrenic ‘border diplomacy' for its continental leadership and argues that the substance and rhetoric of the country's border diplomacy represent a foreign policy interest which prioritizes its people, economy and national security while normatively extending Nigeria’s hegemonic leadership in Africa.

摘要

1960 年独立后，尼日利亚有意为自己打造了一个“老大哥”荣誉称号，其灵感来自泛非主义的非洲中心主义意识形态，它通过无私地分享其人力、军事和经济资源来追求这种意识形态。历届政府都将这种以非洲为重点的外交政策主旨内化，以在非洲建立假定的区域影响力。然而，尽管姗姗来迟地签署了旨在增加非洲内部贸易的《非洲大陆自由贸易协定》，并为非洲护照持有人引入了新的落地签证政策，但尼日利亚边界的漏洞仍然构成威胁并导致关闭2019 年 8 月与西非邻国的陆地边界。本文探讨了尼日利亚精神分裂的“边界外交”的影响