Muktar Usman Muktari-Janguza (JanguzaArewa)

Abuja sees the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, as an abstract issue. However, there are at least two reasons why the debate over its survival matters. US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and their respective advisers sit across from one another on January 16, 2015, at the Palais Coburg Hotel in Vienna, Austria, at their last meeting about the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action outlining the shape of Iran's nuclear program. Image: State Department. US President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) – better known as the Iran Nuclear Deal – and reimpose full sanctions on Tehran has been widely condemned by countries around the world. Most surprising has been the unusually strident criticisms from the EU’s high officials. President of the European Council Donald Tusk condemned what he described as the US’ “capr...

Sierra Leone’s President Siaka Stevens meets China’s Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing, November 1973. During his presidential campaign, Maada Bio spoke out strongly against China’s influence in Sierra Leone. Now that he is President, economic realities will force him to make nice with Beijing. China loomed large in Sierra Leone’s just concluded presidential elections. Then-ruling party, APC, fully wrapped itself in Beijing’s embrace in the run-up to the presidential elections. The contending party, SLPP, for its part, criticized what it said was China’s malign influence in Sierra Leone.  While Samura Kamara, the APC’s flag-bearer, touted his role in deepening China’s economic engagement with Sierra Leone during his five-year stint as foreign minister from 2012-2017, Julius Maada Bio, the SLPP’s candidate, denounced China’s infrastructure projects as “a sham with no economic and development benefits to the people”. At an APC campaign rally on the eve of the electio...

I first wrote and published this article with a local Nigerian newspaper on October 9, 2015, just over a week after Russia's intervention in the Syrian civil war. A Russian SU-30M fighter jet takes off from Hmeymim airbase. The airbase is the main hub of Russia’s operations in Syria (Photo: Russian Ministry of Defence) Amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, Putin has dramatically stepped up Russia’s military presence in the country. On September 30, 2015, Russian jets began bombing targets in Syria.  Weeks before the intervention, a series of satellite images posted on line showing Moscow’s steady deployment of fighter jets, combat helicopters, tanks, armoured fighting vehicles, and anti-aircraft missile systems into the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia had already hinted at this possibility. Russia’s expansion of the port facilities in its naval base at Tartus, the upgrading of the airfield at Latakia into an airbase, and the deployment of prefabricated ho...

Why Diplomacy Succeeded and Regional Alignments Signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action announcing the agreement in Vienna, 14 July 2015. From left to right: Foreign ministers Wang Yi (China), Laurent Fabius (France), Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Germany), Federica Mogherini (EU), Mohammad Javad Zarif (Iran), Philip Hammond (UK), John Kerry (USA). Image Source: Wikipedia On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia, United States) plus Germany – concluded a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concerning the future of Iran’s nuclear program. On July 20, the UN Security Council unanimously endorsed the landmark deal. In late October, Iran is expected to begin implementing its part of the agreement. In early 2016, following the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) confirmation of Iranian compliance, the UN, US and EU will begin lifting sanctions and unfreezing Iranian assets ...

How accurate is the widespread perception that Nigeria and France remain locked in an adversarial rivalry in West Africa? President Muhammadu Buhari and President Francois Hollande meet on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau, Germany. Photo Credit: Getty Images/AFP. Reading Bassey and Dokubo’s monumental tome, Defence Policy of Nigeria: Capability and Context , one gets the impression that for Nigeria’s foreign policy elites France remains a formidable obstacle to the country’s regional ambition and an enduring threat to national security. As the authors observe:  The pervasive and tenacious involvement of France in West-Central Africa has been widely seen by Nigerian defence planners as constituting a direct affront to its national security and also impeding the growth of the country’s political, economic and cultural interests in the region. France’s politico-military presence all across West-Central Africa, the authors unequivocally conclude, means the...

Opportunities and Limits of a Nigeria-Russia Rapprochement President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Vladimir Putin signing the “Declaration on the Principles of Friendly Relations and Partnership” between Nigeria and Russia, March 6 2001 ( Kremlin.ru ) 20 May 1974, General Yakubu Gowon departed Lagos for an 8-day State visit to the Soviet Union. The first ever such visit by a Nigerian Head of State. It was a symbolic gesture of gratitude to the Soviet Union for helping the Federal Government win the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). It was also meant to open a new chapter in bilateral relations between the two countries. A state of “high alert” [1] and ideological suspicion had characterised the relationship before the Civil War [2] . There were high hopes at the time that, guided by pragmatism and mutual interests, cooperation would now deepen. Despite this optimism however, bilateral ties never moved beyond what Maxim Matusevich, a scholar on Nigeria-Russia relation...