Muhammad Yunus was a professor of economics in Bangladesh, who realized that the most impoverished members of his community were systematically neglected by the banking system — no one would loan them any money. Yunus conceived of a new form of banking — microcredit — that would offer very small loans to the poorest people without collateral, and teach them how to manage and use their loans to create successful small businesses. He founded Grameen Bank based on the belief that credit is a basic human right, not the privilege of a fortunate few, and it now provides $24 billion of micro-loans to more than nine million families. Ninety-seven percent of its clients are women, and repayment rates are over 90 percent. Outside of Bangladesh, micro-lending programs inspired by Grameen have blossomed, and serve hundreds of millions of people around the world.

After 60 years of independence, an appraisal of Nigeria’s defence policy and hegemony in West African sub-region has become imperative. In her more than half a century as an independent nation, Nigeria’s leaders have consistently designed and fashioned foreign policy using her armed forces among other instruments to achieve international, regional and sub-regional peace and security. The stability of the West African sub-region requires among other factors, a single dominant state to articulate and enforce the rules of interaction among the members of the state.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the nature and dynamics of Nigeria’s strategic interests in Africa. Nigeria since independence in 1960 has always declared Africa as the centrepiece of her foreign policy. She overstreched her self and behaved like a “Santa clause”.

The study has carefully analysed the challenges facing Nigeria in her pursuit of strategic interest in Africa. Nigeria’s capability to realise her strategic interest in Africa is often constrained by the presence and activities of extra-regional and regional actors and their surrogates.