Solomon Ayegba Usman
The book examines the use of citizen diplomacy in Nigeria’s foreign policy in engaging with South Africa during President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and, by extension, President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Additionally, it explores the degree to which the Nigerian state safeguarded the well-being of Nigerians abroad, particularly those in South Africa, from incessant xenophobic attacks that often defined the relationship between South Africans and Nigerians living in the country. Nigeria and South Africa have had tensed and rivalrous diplomatic relations, especially in the years after apartheid. Nigeria made a significant contribution to the liberation of majority black South Africans from the racist minority white government that alienated and maltreated them on the basis of their skin color. After the defeat of apartheid, expectations were high that the two countries would pursue mutually beneficial diplomatic engagements that would be the envy of apartheid protagonists. Surprisingly, relations between the two regional economic giants nosedived to an all-time low shortly after apartheid. This book is an exposé of Nigeria’s reciprocal foreign policy of citizen diplomacy.
