Nigeria: The New African Diplomatic Leader, At Expense Of South Africa
- HASSAN MASIKY
- 11/15/12
Washington / Morocco News Board--- In a sign that Nigeria is in and South Africa is out, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chose the Nigerian capital to announce their decision to send 3,000 troops to flush out terrorists from Northern Mali. With Nigeria contributing the largest Military contingency and leading a new diplomatic offensive, President Goodluck Jonathan signals a Nigerian comeback on the African scene.
Seeing that the African Union has been keeping low profile and the South Africa-Algeria axis in decline, Nigeria is well position to assume the role of Africa’s diplomatic leader on the international scene. After South Africa’s faux pas in Ivory Coast, Libya and Mali, Africans has turned to Abuja for guidance.
Algeria’s ambiguous position vis-à-vis the military intervention in Mali and South Africa’s abrasive approach made the Algerian-South African alliance irrelevant to the efforts aiming to resolve the crisis in the Sahel. The scandal plagued Zuma and his partners in the African Union (AU) have hijacked the pan-African organization for the purpose of self-promotion discrediting its reputation in the process and dashing the hopes of Millions of Africans longing for unity.
South Africa’s decline led to a resurgence of Nigeria’s diplomatic activities on the African scene. Notwithstanding Nigeria’s ongoing cycle of inter-religious violence, widespread corruption and economic woes, President Jonathan is poised to overtake Zuma’s coveted “status” of Africa’s spokesperson.
However, to be successful in Mali, Nigeria needs a North African partner with a clean record in the Sahel and good relations with the Bamako government and the Touareg separatists. It is important for President Jonathan to open dialogue with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), once the North is recaptured.
Given Algeria’s reluctance to join the Nigerian efforts and its shaky relations with Mali and Niger, Morocco stands as Nigeria’s “potential” natural partner and its future anchor in the Maghreb and the Sahel. Nigeria’s leadership in West Africa will compliment Morocco’s friendly relations with countries in the Sahel.
Nigeria’s position in the Western Sahara should not stop a Moroccan-Nigerian partnership from flourishing. A Rabat-Abuja alliance would benefit the African continent and promote a new African union based on real-politics and not demagogy and self-promotion. Moroccan diplomacy should undertake an informational campaign in Nigeria to familiarize the Nigerian government and civil society of Morocco’s proposals to resolve the Western Saharan conflict. Rabat must highlight the commonalities between Moroccan efforts in the Western Sahara and Nigerian’s current campaign to keep their Federation united.
Moroccan Diplomacy should break free from its French Africa centered foreign policy and open up to Africa’s Anglophone communities. Nigerian, facing the threat of the terror group Bako Haram and still traumatized by the short-lived secession of the southern state of Biafra, should be perceptive of Morocco’s positions. Moroccan diplomats should remind their Nigerian brothers that Tanzania and Zambia recognized the “independence” of Biafra in 1968.
A Rabat-Abuja axis has the potential to become an engine for stability in North and West Africa, the Sahel-Sahara region and North Africa. As the AU becomes irrelevant and more of a vehicle of South Africa’s self-centered political vanity, regional blocks, like the ECOWAS, led by local powers are the future for a united Africa.
Despite its internal problems, Nigeria has the capacity to lead an effective foreign policy in Africa. Unlike South Africa, Nigeria has cultivated a better image among smaller African nations and cultivated a solid track of diplomatic success during tough crisis and under harsh security conditions.
If South Africa failed to end civil crises in several hot spots in Africa, Nigeria successfully led African efforts that ended civil wars in Sierra Leon, Liberia and in Ivory Coast. The South African Nigerian diplomatic rivalry will keep playing on the African scene. For now Nigeria seems to be winning all the campaigns. However, for Abuja to stay engaging, it needs to cultivate strong relations with key players such as Morocco.
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Comments (15)
This tit for tat diplomacy has not served us in anything. We have been bribing countries for decades to be on our side but in vain. Some African countries got used to bakshish that they would side with whoever pays the most.
There must be a way to solve this problem when both peoples are very willing. Seems to me that the leaders of both countries are not doing enough to compromise. Morocco somehow needs to show the Algerians that they too would benefit from peace. Right now, the Algerians see Morocco as the only entity to benefit from opening the borders.
Other than the Sahara, what do we need Nigeria for? their incessant internet scam?
Morocco is friend with half Africa and the truth is that we have not made any progress. Other than their backing for the Sahara which will never happen, adding Nigeria to the mix is useless.
We simply cannot solve the problem without Algeria, Scoring point on each other here and there is not the solution. Morocco will never relinquish an inch of its Sahara and Algeria will never get out empty handed, somehow Morocco and Algeria need to find a place where the 2 meet and agree.
Please save us from this proven losing diplomacy, we need to go beyond the cold war politics.
I know that is easier said than done but I also know that France and Germany are now very good after a devastating war.
Moroccan diplomats need to work harder on Anglo-Saxon countries in Africa since almost all of them are backing Algeria on the Sahara dispute.
Algerian regime would not change and Morocco needs to understand that and live with it..
It is great idea to have good relationship with the growing Nigeria in African scene but not a union that would worsen the already bad relations between Morocco and Algeria.
The major task is to convince the Sahrawis that their future is better with Morocco.
For all its flows, Hassan II didn’t try much to intervene in other countries’ affairs, apart from Zaire of course, but then again, the country’s per capita income didn’t see any progress since Mobutu was overthrown… a long time ago...
Now back to Gaddafi and his mingling with the stability in the Sahel and the Sahara, it is a different story, I do not know why Algeria allowed it, my best guess is that Algerians want to exercise a certain role of leadership in the region, it is just sad that they suck at it… and alienating the best potential ally and inviting Ghaddafi, the JOKER, to lead the show is definitely the worse display of leadership, and the outcome is a thoughtless conflict, providing a bargaining chip for the real Big Players, against both countries, Morocco and Algeria…
I do not see the point in building alliances with Nigeria or any other African self-proclaimed Power, midgets do play basketball, but they don’t make it to the NBA, true we can and maybe should commit with the Western Africa nations in their efforts for enforcing stability in the Sahel, and it would be a good occasion to remind those nations that some of us can provide help…
The Sahara problem has been around for four decades now, and all the –official– studies show that Algeria will become a net importer of oil in 10 to 20 years, at that time the diplomacy of checks will come to an end, and the Sahara problem, that should have never existed, will disappear, or maybe not, but the two countries will certainly come together, after wasting hundreds of billions of dollars, spent to buy fake alliances and to acquire weapons that were never used against real enemies and will never be …
Maybe we’ll think then about a United Maghreb Kingdom, between Morocco and Algeria, just like the UK or maybe the Andorra… we will have one parliamentary, but two soccer teams, because we sure enjoy to play against Algerians on a leveled field…
Algeria has to go through a smooth transition or even a revolution (I hope it's not bloody) before Morocco and all the other neighbours can live in peace and without having one eye always kept open in bed.
The Generals and the other security apparatus in Algeria have created a labyrenthine system of economic and political rent, the so-called import-import mafia, that it is unlikely for all these plunderers and their families to give up the riches without a fight.
Their gated lifestyle won't end until the oil wells run dry. In the meantime, we can continue to pontificate until the cows come home.
Yes that what I meant also The united kingdom of Morocco with the sahara but without algeria,maurita nia,tunisia and libya.We agreeRE: Nigeria: The New African Diplomatic Leader, At Expense Of South Africa — Moh 2012-11-16 10:56 Hi Haras and Riffi, I believe you misunderstood by proposition. I wasn't talking about a Union between Moroccan and Algeria, I was talking about one between Morocco and the Western Sahara. Quote | Report
2m.ma/.../...
We don't do that anymore and that is wrong. I think we should go back to basic and start talking to Algeria under the table. We should offer them an opportunity to tell us what they have in mind - not the usual tough rhetoric - and we get the opportunity to tell them what we have in mind. We do not have to agree on every single point but I am sure that there will be somewhere where we converge.
Right now Morocco is doing what it can to be different from Algeria i.e Mali and Algeria is doing even more to contradict Morocco. This mini punching matches need to end for the benefit of the 70 million people of both countries.
Morocco should come to the conclusion that some of the mastery of Hassan II should be used to approach the two point of views. Morocco sees the autonomy as "No winner no loser solution" Algeria does not see it that way, via secret negotiations, Algeria could freely suggest what they have in mind, Algerians are not dumb, they know that Morocco will not relinquish an inch of the Sahara but we should at least give them an opportunity to negotiate. In the past, they suggested to split the Sahara in two, How about if we offer them a free passage to the Atlantic via a global North African union where all 5 countries unite European Union style and everyone have access to each others shores?
Just do us a favor, let Nigeria out of this. Why on earth would Morocco want to empower Nigeria? what are we getting out of this, some useless Sahara recognition that will never happen in the first place?
Again, we need to stop catering to other countries to come to our side, it's a proven failing diplomacy, the only country we should deal with (not cater to) is Algeria. Their generals are not going anywhere, their system of government will remain the same, and the people are apparently content with what they have. The same thing is going on in Morocco, the monarchy is there to stay. Instead of waiting who's going to go down first, Morocco should start thinking Hassan II style not Nigerian style.
Moh, to answer your question, the autonomy that Morocco is offering is itself a union of Morocco and the Sahara.
I think we should stay away from who's going to lead what. Everything should be done through the ballot box not who knows who.
In the -wise- words of Clinton, “it takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did”, the same people whose president, yes the midget Bouteflika (some name), has been claiming, here and there, for the last decade that “to get anything done in the African continent, you need the approval of the three countries, South Africa, Nigeria and Algeria,” are coming here to mock Mr Massiky…
The people who put the blame on the two countries, simply do not get it, if the problem resides in Algeria, it needs to be dealt with in Algeria. It is the Algerian Leadership, or lack of it, that is hurting the stability in the Maghreb and in the Sahel... if you don't believe it, ask any Malian you know if he would have preferred to have an ocean on the northern border... and the same goes for the Oujdis and berkanis...
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