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The international context is placing a heavier responsibility on Nigeria. Regional security cooperation has weakened, competition for financing and energy technology has intensified, and humanitarian funding is contracting even as domestic needs increase. Three developments this week show why Nigeria must combine leadership and discipline, strengthening its ability to act without taking on obligations it cannot meet.
On July 14, the United Nations Security Council reviewed the political and security situation in West Africa and the Sahel. The next day, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations convened a discussion on energy access and just transitions at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum in New York.
In Abuja, the federal government and the United Nations also began a transition towards stronger Nigerian leadership in humanitarian planning and coordination. These events occurred in different political arenas, but highlight the same reality: Nigeria is being asked to take on more responsibility as external support becomes less predictable.
The Security Council discussion highlighted the urgency of the regional security challenge. Terrorist and criminal networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and increasingly capable of operating across borders, even as dialogue slowly resumes between ECOWAS member states and the Alliance of Sahel States after a prolonged period of tense relations.
Nigeria is directly exposed to both trends. The threat is particularly acute in the central Sahel and northern Nigeria, where armed groups use drones, encrypted communications and cryptocurrencies, while strengthening ties with transnational organized crime. No national security strategy can contain a threat that crosses borders, exploits poorly governed spaces, and takes advantage of fractured regional cooperation.
The reopening of the Kamba border crossing between Nigeria and Niger on 9 February was cited by the Security Council as evidence that the renewed dialogue is producing practical results.
The crossing restores an important trade route, but its significance goes beyond trade. The political rupture between the two governments could not erase the geographical, commercial and security ties between their peoples. Nigeria and Niger share border communities, trade routes and exposure to armed groups, making practical cooperation inevitable even when political differences remain unresolved.
The administration’s efforts to reopen the canals to Niger reflect the balance Nigeria must maintain in the region. We must defend constitutional government without allowing political disagreements to disable the security and trade cooperation that geography requires.
Stopping practical engagement with the Sahel states would weaken border security and disrupt legitimate trade. Abandoning democratic principles in the name of security would equally damage the regional order that Nigeria has helped sustain for decades.
The credible path is structured commitment. The reopening of borders must be supported by increased intelligence sharing, coordinated patrols, customs cooperation and joint action against arms trafficking and terrorist financing. Nigeria’s leadership will depend on its ability to restore functional cooperation while keeping clear the political divisions that continue to shape the region.
The second development placed energy firmly in foreign policy. At the United Nations High-Level Political Forum, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria, in collaboration with the UNDP Office of Independent Evaluation and the German Institute for Development Evaluation, convened a discussion on energy access and just transitions in Africa. The session addressed off-grid energy, affordability, infrastructure, investment, industrial decarbonization and green jobs, which places the energy transition firmly within foreign policy.
The transition is now a competition over finance, technology, critical minerals, supply chains and the location of future industries and jobs. Countries that control investment and processing capacity will capture most of the value, while those that continue to export raw materials and import finished technologies risk reproducing the same dependency under a greener label.
Nigeria should reject any climate framework that treats access to electricity and industrialization as secondary concerns. Our participation in the energy transition must produce affordable financing, technology transfer, home transformation and reliable energy.
A transition that reduces global emissions while African factories remain without reliable electricity, developing countries accumulate costly debt, and production and employment remain concentrated elsewhere cannot be considered fair.
The New York debate was useful because it brought these concerns to the attention of international institutions and development partners.
Its meaning, however, will depend on what follows. Nigeria needs bankable projects, stronger transmission and distribution systems, decentralized energy solutions and partnerships that can power farms, workshops, hospitals and factories. Diplomatic access creates an opportunity, but national institutions must be ready to convert that access into investment and infrastructure.
The third development concerns humanitarian responsibility. At a joint Nigeria-UN workshop in Abuja, discussions began on transferring more responsibility for humanitarian planning, coordination and financing to Nigerian institutions.
Nigeria also intends to lead the preparation of its 2027 humanitarian plan with technical support from the United Nations system.
This transition comes in the form of donor funding contracts as humanitarian needs increase.
The United Nations has warned that nearly 35 million Nigerians could face hunger in 2026, even as aid agencies are forced to respond with fewer resources. Nigeria should take greater leadership in its humanitarian response, but this transition must be gradual, funded and linked to clear institutional parameters.
National ownership cannot become a diplomatic expression for withdrawing international assistance before national systems are ready. Nigeria can only take effective control of the humanitarian response through predictable funding, reliable data, efficient procurement, greater coordination between federal and state authorities, and clear accountability for the provision of assistance to affected communities.
International partners should not transfer responsibilities faster than national institutions can absorb them.
Taken together, these developments show that external partnerships remain necessary, but cannot replace Nigerian and African capacity indefinitely.
Furthermore, Nigeria cannot fund every regional security need, development project or humanitarian obligation on its own. Its foreign policy must therefore build coalitions that share costs, preserve cooperation across political divides, and ensure that international partnerships strengthen domestic institutions rather than replace them.
Nigeria cannot depend indefinitely on external actors to protect its neighborhood, finance its development, or respond to emergencies within its borders, nor can it assume these responsibilities alone.
The goal is to organize effective regional cooperation, negotiate partnerships that expand national capacities, and ensure that greater accountability is accompanied by adequate resources.
In the current international context, Nigeria’s leadership will depend on its ability to build coalitions that protect its interests, strengthen its institutions and achieve results without exhausting its capabilities.
-Oshodi is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Foreign Relations and Protocol
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