AFRICA AS THE CENTERPIECE OF NIGERIA’S FOREIGN POLICY: A HISTORICAL REFLECTION OF THE GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON’S REGIME,1966 – 1975

States do not live in a state of complete isolation. They need to interact with others because most of what they desire to make life worth living is not found within their territories. The most common relationship among states in the world today is through foreign policy. Nigeria has participated in this practice over the years. For many years, Africa was the centrepiece of the Nigerian foreign policy. With this policy, Nigeria had overwhelmingly given both solicited and unsolicited support to African neighbours, intervened positively in their internal crises, provided humanitarian services, doled out billions of dollars as charity, sent technical and corps, formed and sent military supports. In most cases, these flamboyant gestures were defiantly done against home interest and survival. However, there seems to be a disconnect between what is given out and what is given in return. Therefore, this research work needs to examine Nigeria’s flamboyant foreign policy thrust in Africa, taking Yakubu Gowon’s regime as a reference point and how this policy has benefitted Nigeria so far.