Nigeria’s Contribution to Africa’s Regional Integration: Assessment of its recent Performance

Abstract

This paper investigates the recent performance of Nigeria towards Africa’s regional integration as a major power in Africa. The main objective of the research is to determine the extent of Nigeria’s commitment to the realization of the African Union’s vision of becoming a fully integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa; and a dynamic force at the global level. Since her independence in 1960, Nigeria has been widely acknowledged as a leading power in Africa (The Giant of Africa) by several studies because of its preponderant political, economic and militarily power; influence; and benevolent contributions regarding to the liberation and progress of Africa. However, there are hardly substantive assessments of its recent performance towards Africa’s integration. The study adopts the Hegemonic Stability Theory; and descriptive analysis method to analyze data obtained from secondary sources. Analysis of the 2016 and 2019 Regional Integration Index (ARII) reports covering the period from 2010-2019 reveals that Nigeria has performed poorly towards the continent’s integration among its peers, both at the continental and sub-regional levels. The paper concludes that Nigeria’s poor performance would significantly slow the acceleration of Africa’s integration; and the country risks losing its leadership position in Africa to its rivals, especially South Africa. It recommends that the Nigerian government should take deliberate steps in formulating and implementing policies that would improve its performance across the five dimensions of the regional integration; and it should strengthen its commitment to consolidate its leadership position in Africa, and motivate smaller countries to contribute their best.