The federal government has restated its resolve to overhaul Nigeria’s foreign policy and revive the commanding diplomatic presence the country wielded in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Speaking in Abuja at the launch of “Shadows of Power,” a book by retired Rear Admiral Sola Oluwagbire, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sola Enikanolaiye said Nigeria’s global standing was being deliberately rebuilt through institutional reform and a renewed strategic outlook. While its visibility had dimmed a little, he said, the administration was committed to restoring its credibility and influence.

He said diplomacy was being reoriented around a “Nigeria first” doctrine, placing national interest, citizen welfare and strategic autonomy at the Centre of external engagements, and anchored on four pillars of demography, development, democracy and diaspora. Strategic autonomy, he stressed, meant alignment to national interest rather than isolation, with Nigeria remaining open to partnerships with the United States, China, Russia, Turkey and BRICS states.

On institutional reform, the minister said the ministry was strengthening record management, making postings more predictable and requiring officers to undergo training and pass examinations before promotion, modelling diplomatic standards on military discipline.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who chaired the event and was represented by retired General Martin Luther Agwai, said the book offered practical insight into laying the foundations for Nigeria’s emergence as a global power. Retired Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo argued that the path to superpower status lay in industrialization and sustained national focus, while the author said his work was a step towards better thinking and national consciousness on security.