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.

Rethinking Nigeria’s soft power capability as a regional leader in Africa

“…This study has revealed a couple of Nigeria's soft power resources from the cultural perspective, highlighting film or movie production (Nollywood) and music with iconic superstars as an area of comparative advantage over other regional rivals. The country has also shown a high level of regional mettle in arts -literature, fashion and language, cuisines and sports (Ogunnubi & Uzodike 2016, Ogunnubi & Isike 2017, Tella 2018.…”

“…The fame of Nollywood and the music industry stems from resilient Nigerians and non-governmental agencies projecting and raking up substantial non-oil revenues and massive employment for the country. Therefore, the Nigerian government must start investing significantly in the entertainment industry to further stretch its hold on the sector in the region in particular, as the industry has begun featuring prominently in the country's GDP (Yavuzaslan & Cetin 2016, Ogunnubi & Isike 2017, Tella 2018.…”

“…Nigeria's foreign policy, which centres on Africa, is very laudable and one of the most pragmatic regionally. However, despite Nigeria's active and reputable foreign policy credentials in the region, this critical soft power tool needs to be strengthened further (Ogunnubi & Isike 2017, Tella 2018. Some vital diplomacy indicators Nigeria can improve upon are: Table 1.…”

“…The theory of soft power will be applied to re-invent Nigeria's regional leadership plan because of its power of attraction and influence on potential recipients as opposed to leadership by coercion which induces suspicion. The inability to use military and economic threats to resolve conflicts or forge cooperation in the contemporary era has elevated the concept of soft power built on superior ideas and values that engender other's attraction and change of preference is the reason for its choice in this research (Nye 2004, Ogunnubi & Isike 2017, Tella 2018.…”

Nigeria’s Democracy Promotion in Africa: Hard, Soft or Smart Power Stratagem?

“…Barring South Africa, compared with other African states, there has been relative growth in the literature on Nigeria's soft power. Tella (2017Tella ( , 2018b and Ogunnubi and Isike (2018) engage the currencies, constraints and contradictions of Nigeria's soft power. Some studies offer a comparative perspective.…”