Domestic Conflicts and Human Rights in Africa: Implications for Nigerian Foreign Policy

Abstract

Every nation, no matter how peaceful experiences varying conflicts at one point or the other in her existence, whether developing or developed. The weird domestic conflict which has culminated into insecurity of lives and properties currently bedevilling the existence of Nigeria especially in the northern part of the nation has become one of the fundamental challenge troubling the present government of Nigeria, which has invariably put her relationship across international boundaries on the line. The study examined the implications of domestic conflicts and human rights on Nigeria’s foreign policy and argued that the escalating rate of insecurity across the nation especially in the northern part has a nexus with aggrieved political big wigs who takes advantage of youth’s vulnerability due to high rates of unemployment, to perpetrate the heinous crimes. The study observed that the perpetrators of the crimes are employed by political elites to discredit their political opponents and also to gain relevance and popularity in the political market. It found that the conflicts, rather than experience the influx of investors into the country, might experience the exodus of the few investors out of the country. It concluded that until the financiers of the heinous crime are brought to book in the public glare, the scourge which we all have ideas about its genesis, its ending might be a puzzle.

Keywords: Nigeria, Domestic Conflicts, Human Rights, Africa, Foreign Policy