Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar has said that Nigeria is not a model country when it comes to the issues of dependence on foreign aid, as the country has only sought strategic partnerships to tackle challenges and is not reliant on aid.
Tuggar said this while addressing pressing issues facing Nigeria and Africa during a Bloomberg interview during his visit to the UK, emphasising strategic autonomy and collaborative solutions.
The foreign minister said, “Nigeria has never been reliant on aid. What we have always sought for is strategic solutions to the issue of risk so that we can partner with countries and mitigate risk. We’re looking for countries that meet us halfway. The United Kingdom is very much aware of that.
“So what we were taking in in terms of development aid is really not that significant and it’s being covered by some of the initiatives that have followed, for instance, the cut back on USAID, PEPFAR. Our Minister of Health announced that Nigeria was stepping up to cover any shortages that might occur. So, really, Nigeria is not the model country when it comes to the issue of reliance and dependence on aid.”
Tuggar then acknowledged concerns that Europe’s focus was diverted by the war in Europe. However, he asserted that Europe cannot afford to lose interest in Africa due to their interconnectedness.
He said, “Europe can’t afford to have less of an interest in Africa because we’re neighbours. The Mediterranean in Latin is water in the middle of land. That’s what it’s always been. And we are more interconnected than we perhaps realise because the Atlantic economy, if you will, goes back centuries and we’ve been interacting with each other. So what concerns us concerns Europe. And Nigeria is the frontline in many regards.”
Tuggar pointed out the growing influence of Russia in Africa, especially since Europe’s withdrawal from the Sahel. He stressed the importance of organic solutions that include regional countries like Nigeria, referencing Nigeria’s successful participation in ECOMOG in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the Multinational Joint Task Force in combating terrorism. He also noted Nigeria’s exclusion from key initiatives such as G5 Sahel, Operation Barkhane and the EU Sahel Strategy.
“So we consider the EU as our partners, Europe as our partners, and we’re looking for solutions that are organic. And we that live in the neighbourhood are in a better position to come up with the ideas and get the support and the buy-in of our partners. And our approach is strategic autonomy,” he said.
Tuggar then warned that decreased European investment in infrastructure and problem-solving could increase migration, saying, “Migration would go up certainly if Europe spends less on investments, on infrastructure and on tackling some of the problems that were brought about by the actions of Europe. Libya, for instance, where all the weapons are flowing in from. You have trained fighters. You have now forces exiting Syria and looking to relocate in Libya.
“That’s going to be a problem. And for as long as weapons and funding and trained fighters cascade down from Libya into the Sahel, we will continue to have a problem. And this is what we’re looking to address collectively through multilateral channels. And multilateralism can exist side by side with national interest. It’s the way it should be.”
