Historical Background

This chapter complements and completes the discussion in Chapter 2 on the imperativeness of a human-right policy for Nigeria under the Fourth Republic, in the wake of the reduced influence of the military in the country’s body politic, symptomized by General Buhari’s departure, after two unimpressive terms in office as President. Although focused on the period since Nigeria’s independence from the UK in 1960 at the heartbeat of this research, the discussion also includes the precolonial and colonial eras, necessary to present a complete story. In addition to an introduction, this chapter has four sections, organized mostly around the various eras, including a brief statement on ethics as moral consideration in foreign affairs short of full-blown human rights, as a trade that connects all three periods in the areas today known as Nigeria; a sketch of three concentric circles that power Nigerian foreign relations; and a statement on the abiding influence of the civil war from 1967 until 1970 on those circles.