Nigeria’s Soft Power Sources: Between Potential and Illusion?

Abstract

A major requirement for regional power status is the location and deployment of soft power attributes which may range from culture, political ideology, diplomacy, to sporting achievements, foreign policy articulation, tourism, media exports and language. While contemporary analysis of Nigeria’s regional and continental power profile is almost entirely focused on economic and military aspects, an objective account of the state’s power portfolio would be incomplete without a careful estimation of its soft power potential and influence. This article contributes to the study of Nigeria’s foreign policy by initiating the debate on the utility and prospect of its soft power characteristics. An assessment of the country’s soft power resources in the form of culture, political values and foreign policy reveals that Abuja can indeed use these co-optive platforms to mitigate the negative contradictions that dampen its regional power status in Africa. The paper concludes that, although there are enormous limitations, a careful articulation of Nigeria’s soft power assets has the potential to reinforce the country’s regional leadership.