BEST PRACTICE 2.1: NIGERIA’S ROLE IN AFRICA • Since independence, the central plank of Nigeria’s foreign policy has been a focus on Africa and on some basic principles that include the continent’s unity, independence, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and regional economic cooperation and development. • Nigeria was central to the Pan-African struggle and assisted several African liberation movements, including the South-West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) in Namibia, and the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) [ZANU (PF)] in Zimbabwe. Nigeria was also active in Africa and at the UN in the struggle against apartheid. • Since 1960, Nigeria has contributed to several UN and Organisation of African Unity (OAU)/AU peacekeeping forces. • Generally speaking, Nigeria has good relations with its West African neighbours and has contributed to the containment and resolution of conflict in the region, for instance in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, etc. Over the past 10 years, Nigeria has spent over US$15 billion on the rebuilding of Sierra Leone and Liberia. • Nigeria’s handling of the long-standing border dispute with Cameroon over the potentially oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula – a dispute which is ongoing – has been exemplary. • Nigeria is a champion of regional and economic cooperation in West Africa and the region. It is a pivotal state in ECOWAS, which has its headquarters in Abuja. Nigeria has also offered to host the proposed Africa Investment Bank of the AU. • Nigeria has also invested in Africa’s development. It established a trust fund at the AfDB for lending to LDCs. Nigeria also established a Technical Aid Corps (TAC) for the transfer of technical assistance to African countries. • The AU has benefited from the commitment of Nigeria, which offered to contribute the ceiling rate of 15 per cent of the regular budget of the union. Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, South Africa and Egypt provide 75 per cent of the AU budget. • Nigeria was one of the founding member countries of NEPAD/APRM and remains a key contributor to the budgets of these organisations. Former president Obasanjo served as chairperson of the NEPAD HSGIC and the African Peer Review (APR) Forum from 2001 to 2007. Sources: Adapted from www.dtca.ng.org; Nigeria CSAR, January 2008; Ebere Onwudiwe, APRM background paper on Nigeria, 2007; CRM findings. 2.7 Key strengths and challenges 141. 58 Nigeria is easily identifiable as one of Africa’s giants and a force to contend with on the global scene. It regularly features as a leading performer in West Africa and on the African continent, particularly in the cultural, economic, social and financial arenas. Nigeria and Nigerians showcase the best that Africa has to offer: pride in African values, originality and