Abstract

This article examines the nature and changing pattern of relations between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea from 1980-2005. It states that relations between the countries improved tremendously in the quarter century covered in this study compared to the two decades preceding that time frame (1960-1980) due to of a number of domestic political and economic changes that occurred in both countries, as well as the transformation of the international system in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The paper explores the specific changes that took place in Nigerian-Equatorial Guinean relations from1980 onwards and the factors that influenced them. The termination of the brutal and violent rule of President Macias Nguema in Equatorial Guinea opened the way for improved relations between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. The shift from dependence on cocoa to petroleum exports in Equatorial Guinea also helped to promote cordial relations since the ill-treatment of Nigerian workers in Equatorial Guinea’s cocoa plantations had been a thorny issue in Nigerian-Equatorial Guinean relations in previous decades. The end of the Cold War and apartheid between 1989 and 1994 were also important factors that shaped relations. All these were issues that had previously negatively affected cordial relations between the countries. This article therefore discusses relations between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea within the context of the post-Cold War international system and intra-African relations. It also argues that although improvements were recorded in Nigerian-Equatorial Guinean relations between 1980 and 2005, there remain numerous avenues that could be explored for yet better relations.

Recommended Citation

Aworawo, David Ph.D. (2010) "Decisive Thaw: The Changing Pattern of Relations between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, 1980-2005," Journal of International and Global Studies: Vol. 1: No. 2, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62608/2158-0669.1020
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/jigs/vol1/iss2/5