ABSTRACT
While foreign policy is often conceived as external facing, and for determining a country’s identity outside, the results are often in the form of domestic progress. For example, the Chinese “Belt and Road” initiative that seeks to invest in infrastructure in more than 150 countries, is in fact the construction of the infrastructure to facilitate the shipment of goods from China. Even the US, more often than not, its interference in global issues is often a play to protect cheap sources of energy for American businesses. The move by the Jonathan administration to focus on Nigeria’s domestic issues rather the Afro-centric focus of the country’s foreign policy up until then was not only justified, but it was also a necessity. Nigeria cannot aspire to lead Africa without first resolving its internal challenges. That the Buhari administration, which ran against and replaced the GEJ administration, continued to make Nigeria’s domestic issues the center piece of its foreign policy is a pointer that that was something the GEJ administration got right.
Discussion so far shows that more than external challenges, it is the internal challenges that are dampening Nigeria’s attainment of positive international image and national transformation. Some of these challenges include leadership crisis, corruption, insurgency, irregular power supply, low quality/public service delivery and rating of the nation’s educational institutions amongst others. Also, the study asserts that foreign policy constitutes a force for positive international image, a force for positive change, which should be maximally harnessed for national development and transformation, emphasizing that a robust foreign policy position invariably promotes international respectability among the comity of nations and positively affects a country’s national transformation agenda-hence Federal Ministry of Information stresses that a nation’s attempt to have a meaningful impact and influence on the world around it will be guided by her foreign policy objectives and national interests and how effectively such disposition is transmitted or communicated to the world. In other words, foreign policy objectives and national interests must be clinically packaged and projected to achieve their aims.
Nigeria’s foreign policy under Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has no significant role in boosting the global image of Nigeria. I also emphasize that Goodluck Jonathan’s administration foreign policy plays a significant role in boosting the global image of Nigeria. Therefore, we conclude that the foreign policies established and focused on by Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had a negative impact and implication on the global image of Nigeria as clearly stated. The aspect of this paper is that the image of Nigeria globally is negative and almost equally the same number think the image of Nigeria globally is good. It is therefore apt to say that since the majority of the population agree that the image of Nigeria globally is negative, public relations should be effectively integrated and should be involved in the formulation of policies as they concern the international community.
