NIGERIA’S REGIONAL AMBITIONS: CHANNELS AND CHALLENGES

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Aslam Khan
Lawan Cheri

Abstract

Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world, a member of the UN Security Council, and the largest economy of Africa. In addition to its globally acknowledged qualitative oil, it also has large deposits of mineral resources including tin, coal and gypsum, gold, and lead. The country is not only engaged in a passionate competition with South Africa to attain the position of a continental superpower preparatory towards becoming a globally acknowledge giant but also comfortably playing a big-brother role among Africa nations. This paper uses documentary analysis to examine Nigeria’s social, economic, and global potentials of fulfilling its dreams vis-a-vis the potentials of its competitor(s). The paper found out that Nigeria faces multidimensional challenges on its path towards continental leadership ranging from domestic problems of rising crime, incessant insurgency, dilapidated infrastructure, growing unemployment, over-reliance on dwindling oil income and leadership crises among others to intense competition from other strong African countries like South Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The paper concludes that the country’s goal of a regional superpower status is achievable but Nigeria must address its domestic challenges to win the race of attaining continental hegemony.

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How to Cite
Khan , Aslam, and Lawan Cheri. 2020. “NIGERIA’S REGIONAL AMBITIONS: CHANNELS AND CHALLENGES”. Journal of Liberty and International Affairs 5 (1):43-58. https://www.e-jlia.com/index.php/jlia/article/view/141.
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Author Biographies

Aslam Khan , Department of Political Science and International Studies, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia

Aslam Khan is Professor of Political Science at Kaduna State University, Nigeria. Prior to this position, he served as Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. Dr. Khan also served as Associate Professor and Head of Department of Political Science and Administration at Yobe State University, Nigeria. He also served Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-INDIA as Assistant Professor of Political Science. Dr Khan has also served as a Visiting Professor at University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. Dr Khan has been been very actively engaged in his research pursuits concerning US and South Asia, Peace and Conflict, South Asian Politics, African Politics and Terrorism. He is also the member of editorial board of several reputed journals including Cambridge Scholars and Springer. He also serves as reviewer for scores of international peer reviewed journals. He also serves as member of International Advisory Committee for various international conferences. He is also the member of International Political Science Association (IPSA), Canada, International Studies Association (ISA), USA, Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), USA and Indian Political Science Association (IPSA), India. He is also associated with International Peace Research Association (IPRA). Dr. Khan is also Member, Executive Council of Asia Pacific Peace Research Association.

Lawan Cheri, Department of General Studies, Federal Polytechnic, Damaturu Yobe State, Nigeria

Lawan Cheri is senior lecturer and Head, Department of Public Administration, Federal Polytechnic Damaturu Yobe state, Nigeria. He is specialized in public administration and has strong interest in conflict studies. He has published in several local and international journals. He is currently a PhD researcher in SDG Graduate School hosted jointly by Universitat Hildesheim (Germany) and University of Maiduguri (Nigeria).