The Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, has said that the nation’s foreign policy has been impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency.

According to him, the threats to Nigeria’s safety and survival have grossly limited her diplomacy, impacting negatively her external visibility continentally and globally.

Speaking at the 2021 annual public lecture series of the Society for International Relations Awareness at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, on Saturday, the CoS argued that Nigeria’s foreign policy had served the nation well since the administration of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa.

The COS said, “What has changed in Nigeria, especially in over a decade with consequential negative impact on her foreign policy, has been the fight against terrorism and Boko Haram.

“The threats to Nigeria’s safety and survival which these represent have grossly limited Nigeria’s diplomacy, impacting negatively her external visibility continentally and globally.

“These initial threats have since complicated Nigeria’s domestic peace and security with huge consequences to cohesion, national unity and peace.

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“The Buhari Administration was able to mobilise international support for the war against Boko Haram, forging strong partnerships with key countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, ECOWAS, the AU as well as the UN.”

Gambari explained that the foreign policy thrust and objectives of the retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari as Military Head of State marked “the beginning of clarity in the pursuit of Nigeria’s foreign policy in favour of the territorial safety and survival of Nigeria as its inner core, followed almost simultaneously by the defence of her citizens.”

Gambari cited the successes of the Buhari regime’s foreign policy to include among others, the purchase of 12 Super Tucano aircraft from the US and the reinvigoration of the Multinational Joint Task Force comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin Republics.