Investigating Nigerian-European Union Relations: A Focus on the EU’s Strategic Interests in Nigeria since 1999

Abstract

This paper investigates the strategic and diplomatic relationships between Nigeria and EU following the return of the Nigerian state to the civilian rule in 1999. However, Nigeria’s foreign relations with the EU dated to 1970s when it led a group of forty-six African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) during the negotiation between the European Economic Community (EEC), which led to the formation of the Lomé Convention of 1975. Nigeria’s leadership role towards the creation of the Lomé Convention of 1975 was a significant marker in its efforts to promote and advance economic ingratiation between the ACP and EEC (now the EU). Given the historical antecedents of the Nigerian-EU relations from the 1970s till the late 1990s, however, this paper argues that, following the return to democracy in 1999, new multilateral diplomacy had to be embarked upon to engage constructively with the international community in respect to challenges of peace, security, development, and democracy. To achieve these strategic objectives, Nigeria has constructively partnered with the European Union (EU) in five areas—good governance, developmental cooperation, regional security, energy, and trade. Nonetheless, Nigerian relations with EU had improved following its return to civil rule in 1999. But the relationship has always been asymmetrical and predicated on the motivation of the European Union to advance its strategic interests in Nigeria.