While it may be too early to measure if Nigeria\u2019s decision to partner with BRICS is a step in the right direction or a misstep, what should worry us is the lack of consistency on the part of the Tinubu-led government regarding foreign policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the 17th<\/sup> day of January when Nigeria was announced by the government of Brazil (in its capacity as the incumbent President of BRICS) as one of the partners of BRICS<\/a>, many of us had thought that the Tinubu-led government of Nigeria was pro-West or at least anti-Russia. We reached this conclusion based on some notable roles President Tinubu<\/a> played in the international arena since his tenure began in May 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tinubu\u2019s first major outing in international politics came within the first three months of his administration when he threatened to invade Niger with soldiers<\/a> to force out the junta government of Brig. Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. Though he made this threat in his capacity as the chairperson of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS)<\/a>, the fact that the threat was made against a vocally anti-West military government portrayed Tinubu as playing the henchman for the West. It didn\u2019t help that his opposition to the revolutionary military government in Niger came at a time when many states in Africa (particularly Francophone states) were rising against former colonial masters like France<\/a>. This explains why other anti-West military juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali took sides with\u00a0 Brig. Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger and jointly staged an opposition to Tinubu\u2019s pro-West posturing by withdrawing their states from ECOWAS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As if not bothered by the growing suspicion that he has been playing a stooge for the West, President Tinubu, last November, added salt to the wound when he led a delegation of Nigerian politicians and businessmen to a three-day visit to President Macron of France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n