IGBOSCHOLARS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IGBO SCHOLARS FORUM, NIGERIA

Foreign policy is an exclusive preserve of sovereign states. The principles depend, largely, on the capacity, disposition, and willingness of states to extend their influence beyond their borders. In 1960, Nigeria gained independence and began to project her foreign policy principles to the international system. The first and only Nigeria’s Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, enunciated what became Nigeria’s foreign policy principles. Subsequent administrations, civilian and military alike, continued in the same stance notwithstanding identified flaws in some of the policies occasioned by the realities of the international system. Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges demands that a multifaceted approach be adopted in tackling them. Consequently, there is the need to adopt soft power approach to enhance Nigeria’s interest in the international system. This article seeks to project cultural diplomacy as an area in Nigeria’s foreign policy that demands an attention arguing that Nigeria can employ and deploy cultural diplomacy as a soft power approach to improve on herinternational relations. The study adopts both primary and secondary sources of data collection and uses historical analysis to distil the data. With a huge population, sound and enterprising youths but mitigated by massive unemployment, the study argues that Nigeria can deploy her available huge cultural potentials through Nollywood, Scholarship, Artists, et cetera to increase her relevance in the international system while solving domestic problem of unemployment and poverty. The study concludes that the full realisation of such objective is predicated on a conscious and deliberate policy adopted by the Nigerian government to enhance her cultural diplomatic prowess in her international relations.

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