LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKING IN FOREIGN POLICY: A COMPARISON OF TWO REGIMES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Leadership has been considered a critical factor in military successes since records have been kept; that is, better led forces repeatedly have been victorious over poorly led forces. As a nation develops, it needs a centralized locus for its operation which can only be achieved by a single leader. All important decisions and their implementation center on the cult of the leader even when as in military or parliamentary democracies, actual decision making is diffuse. The leader embodies the collective will. This single leaders sort out the essential problems, offers possible solutions, establishes priorities, and launches developmental operations. The paper seeks to investigate the role of Leadership in Foreign Policy decision making in Nigeria, A Comparing the military regimes Generals Buhari and Babangida. The paper analyzes Buhari foreign policy and also discusses an in-depth of Babangida foreign policy in Nigeria. The nexus juxtapose the impact of Buhari and Babangida foreign policy. The leadership theoretical perspective is adopted for the study in order to determine the problem. Nigeria’s foreign policy from 1960 till date had witnessed a beehive of activities. The period witnessed both success and failure and these two regime tackled and varieties of problems that arose in its relationship with other member of the international community. There is a need to re-define the Nigeria foreign policy. The country needs to concentrate more on improving the well being of her citizens, both at home and Diaspora, and ensure that they are treated fairly and justly wherever they may choose to reside.