Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the September 9 and 10 G-20 Leaders’ Summit held in New Delhi, India. He was on the delegation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The minister spoke on critical issues including Nigeria-India partnership, inclusion of Nigeria and the AU in G-20, Africa’s security challenges, and more in an interview with prime Indian YouTube news channel FirstPost anchored by Palki Sharma Upadhyay. The New Diplomat, Nigeria’s frontline digital newspaper with offices in Lagos, Abuja, and Toronto, provides transcript of the insightful interview:
The Nigerian delegation was the first to arrive for the G-20 Summit. What is your experience of New Delhi in particular and India in general being so far?
It’s being wonderful. We received a warm welcome. I was the first foreign minister to arrive. My President was the first President to arrive, even though we arrived separately. So, it’s been wonderful.
This is the G-20 summit. There’s been a lot of buzz about Africa. We understand the African Union is going to be made a part of the group and India has been pushing for it. Do you foresee any obstacles and how optimistic are you of this happening?
I am very optimistic. We welcome the idea. But we also feel that Nigeria should be included as well being the most populous country in Africa and the largest economy. The theme of the summit is “One Earth, One Family, One Future.” We want that future to be democratic. The family should be democratised and be more inclusive. So 15 per cent of Africans should be included the same way that EU and European countries are included. We feel there is room for the AU and Nigeria at the same time.
What sort of response has this proposal received so far?
There are still talks going on. Quite a number of countries are not averse to that idea. I believe India is also one of them because India has always been supportive of the global South and South-South cooperation and collaboration. We’ve been partners going back to the Non-Aligned movement and the struggle to free Africa from racist and colonial rule. We are quite optimistic. We are happy that India saw it fit to invite us.
How do you see India’s role as the G-20 chair and in particular, the Indian Prime Minister has been talking about Africa and the inclusion of African partners? How do you see that effort?
This is wonderful. It is welcome. We are happy and lucky that India has the presidency even though it is just for a year. But India is a very key member of the G-20. With support of countries like India and the forward outlook of Prime Minister Modi, we can get there. We need to be on the decision making table of the largest economies in the world where key decisions that affect the whole world and affect Africa are made. We are just coming out of a pandemic and we saw what happened and the whole politics surrounding vaccines. Some countries were short-changed and what some are referring to as vaccine apartheid. This is why it is very key for Nigeria, expected to be the third largest country in the world, with a population of 400million to be part of the G-20.
You mentioned some very important issues. There is the post- pandemic and the war in Ukraine. We see the East-West divide appear to be widening. This is a very important platform where leaders like you and others representing the global South can make their voices heard and raise issues that really matter to the people. Having said that there is a feeling the war in Ukraine and the politics surrounding it may overshadow all the conversations in the next few days. Is that a fear that you share?
I don’t share that fear because of countries like India for instance which is the largest country on the planet and Nigeria which is the largest country on the African continent. So, even though we are not a member yet, we are invitees, we are attending. There is more to discuss than Ukraine. Yes, it is important to discuss Ukraine. Yes, it is important to talk about how to stop conflicts. The whole field of international relations was founded on the effort to try and stop wars; stop conflicts. But there is a whole lot more to discuss beyond Ukraine.
Do you think the absence of some prominent names at the summit will impact the kind of conversations that will happen? The United States for instance has called Beijing the spoiler – that’s the word they used?
Like I said, the Summit theme is – One Earth, One Family, One Future. So even within families, siblings quarrel, they fight. I am sure some of these issues will be resolved. Perhaps, this is one time that not all members of the family will be in attendance. The next summit presidency moves to Brazil and maybe by then some of these issues will be resolved and there will be some common ground to meet and hopefully Nigeria will be part of such future meetings.
You believe that this consensus will be on the agenda?
I believe there are certain areas that need to be straightened out. But by and large there is a general consensus. India gets along with most of the countries. They are upholding the presidency and I think they’re good at canvassing support and consensus.
There are lots of commonalities between Indians and the African powers. For instance, some call India a bridging power. We talk to both camps as it were in international politics. We are trying to find convergences where there are very many differences. Similarly for many African players who refuse to take a side, especially in the war. Do you think the inclusion of African powers and AU is going to mitigate some of these divisions and gaps?
That’s exactly what I was talking about. That’s the democratisation of these decision-making groups. We can also talk about the UN Security Council. It’s time for reform. It is time for countries like India and Nigeria to belong; to become permanent members. This ordering really has to stop. It is not you are either with or you are against me. There is common ground. India for instance belongs to the BRICS which also belongs to G-20 for instance. I think there is enough room to belong to several groups and work together.
What about the India-Nigerian bilateral partnership. How much do you see that taking a part of the conversation that we are going to have? What sort of development and forward movement do you foresee?
There is so much to be done. Nigeria is on a very similar trajectory as India, in terms of population growth; in terms of the growth of the economy. We are very close trade partners. We are a hydrocarbon exporting country and a lot of it comes to India. We are both concerned about climate change. There is going to be an energy transition. We consider gas as an energy transition fuel – a significant one. We want to industrialise and expand our manufacturing capacity and create jobs. This is a part of President Tinubu’s eight-point agenda. Beyond that, in terms of business process operations, India is a leader in ICT. You have the digital India. There is so much we can learn from India. In terms of Fintech we are quite advanced compared to many developing countries. We have a lot of young people, youthful population and that is fuelling a lot growth in terms of information technology and start-ups. While we are here, there were pledges for investments upwards of USD14bn from the Indian private sector.
Let’s talk about security challenges in Africa. In the last few months, we have seen two coups in Niger and Gabon. In a country like Nigeria, how much does this security challenges impact what you are trying to do?
Nigeria is somewhat different when it comes to some of these challenges even though they are in our neighbourhood. We have had a constitutional democratic government since 1999. We have had seven successive elections every four years. Our system has been tested over and again. We have a deliberative democratic system that rests on separation of powers and checks and balances. It is quite robust and cascades all the way down.
But in the region, in your neighbourhood, what’s your assessment of security?
It’s rather precarious; one that requires a concerted effort to reinforce its institutions of democracy, Nigeria has a very good record at peace building; not just peace keeping but peace building.
When the coup happened in Niger, ECOWAS gave a deadline for the junta to revert to constitutional government. The deadline is long gone. Is military intervention still an option?
Absolutely, it is still on the table. You know, it’s not the only option. It’s not the first option but it is there. It is there to reinforce the need to hand over the reins of leadership to the democratically elected leader of Niger. It has not stopped diplomatic efforts that are ongoing. You know, there are so many channels that are being used, and we are hopeful that they will succeed and we won’t have to revert to a military option and military option doesn’t mean war with Niger. We hope that the situation can be resolved amicably.
