By ABDULKABIR MUHAMMED

A former Foreign Affairs Minister, Rt. Gen Ike Nwachukwu, has argued that economic development is imperative if Nigeria is to complement South Africa’s role in showcasing Africa at the global stage. Commenting as a distinguished guest at the Maiden Foreign Policy Lecture Series organised by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, the elder statesman argued that for African countries to have a united front, they had to be economically buoyant.

This was in response to the guest speaker, Ambassador Godknows Igali’s statement, highlighting the roles of Kenya and South Africa in the Haitian crisis and Israeli-Palestinian War, respectively. He lamented that “African countries, compared to the rest of the world, weaken in their approach and their demands,” adding: “For as long as the African Union is weak, we will not be able to galvanise the African states to stand up for what they should get in the committee of nations.”

The former foreign affairs Minister under the Gen Ibrahim Babangida administration recalled the formidable intervention the Nigerian government made in the Liberian civil wars, claiming that the war would have lingered had the intervention not taken place. He also recalled his ministry demanding a permanent seat for Nigeria at the United Nations but lamented that demand was yet to be met “because the OAU (now the AU) that should be waxing stronger and stronger implementing what’s best for Africa appears not able to do so.”

Gen Nwachukwu also reiterated his call for the African leadership to enhance trade and investment on the continent. He argued that an African Union funded by global countries like the US, France, and Japan affect the continent's independence, for if ADB were determined to “pull Africa out of poverty, those interest groups will stop it because they fund Africa.”

“An African Trade and Development Bank wherein African countries domicile their monies in that bank and the bank can now go out and reinvest in all the banks outside the continent to shore up our finances and this bank can then load money to African countries in science and technology, road construction, development, so that we can develop our continent independent of foreign interest,” he advised.

However, Ambassador Nwachukwu has reiterated Nigeria’s role in the emerging multilateral world order, urging the government to promote economic development to join South Africa in advancing the African cause globally.

“If Nigeria’s economy remains weak, we would still be playing a secondary role to South Africa. Therefore, to complement South Africa’s economic strength, Nigeria must be equally strong so that both countries can drive Africa’s economic development. So, we need to do economic diplomacy.”