During the past decades, the Giant of Africa’s foreign and security policy has been either person or regime-centred at the expenses of a fully formulated and nationally generated foreign policy and its implementation. It had little institutional anchorage and back-up. This is accompanied by a lack of consensus about what actually represents the national interest that should inform the country’s foreign and security policy. As central cause for this, the FES sees the lack of a participatory debate as to the spirit and purpose of these policy areas.
FES Nigeria promotes spaces for participation, exchange, training, reflection and analysis. We also support research and debates between representatives of various stakeholders from civil society, trade unions, security agencies, research institutions and the media.
FES favours a foreign policy that is subjected to and emerges from an open societal debate. It should be anchored continuously in a strong institutional setting and be informed by research and academic reflection. We support a Nigerian Foreign Policy that is subjected to democratic control and that subscribes to the values of international solidarity, multilateralism and international peace promotion.
Similarly, FES supports the national debate on Nigeria’s Security Policy bringing a variety of stakeholders to the table. Guided by the concept of human security, activities supported revolve around topics of Democratic Governance of the Security Sector and the cooperation between Security Agencies and Civil Society.
P.O.Box. 5142
Wuse, Abuja
Nigeria
Abuja Office
info(at)fes-nigeria.org