Olajide Aluko

Olajide Aluko was a Nigerian scholar who mostly favored Hans Morgenthau's view of realistic foreign policy in his studies of Nigeria and Africa's foreign policy. He was also a professor of International Relations at Obafemi Awolowo University and dean of the Faculty of Administration in the university.

Views and works

In some of his early writings during the oil boom era of the 1970s, he leaned towards the viewpoint of a strong and powerful Nigerian nation, where the potential benefits of the country's natural resources such as oil and agro-commodities could be utilized to generate internal economic strength. The corollary to this would be the nation maximizing its strength in regional and international politics and devising its policies based on its internal economic, political, and social interests. However, with the fall in oil price, the illusion of a powerful Nigeria or stable foreign policy was shattered by the early 1980s. Professor Aluko later often argued against Nigeria's march towards grandeur in foreign policy. He believed it would transfer national resources and energy towards regionalization when Nigeria was still mired in poverty and had little economic and political stability to earn respect among other nations.

Selected Books

• Essays in Nigerian Foreign Policy. Unwin Hyman December 1981, ISBN 99924-40-65-1
• Ghana and Nigeria, 1957-70. Africa Book Centre Ltd July 1977, ISBN 0-901720-92-5
• Foreign Policies of African States. Editor, Hodder Arnold April 10, 1977. ISBN 0-340-21030-3
• Africa and the Great Powers in the 1980s. Editor, Univ Pr of Amer November 1987. ISBN 0-8191-5592-6
• The Future of Africa and the New International Economic Order Nieo. Co-editor, Palgrave Macmillan April 1986, ISBN 0-312-31412-4
• Southern Africa in the 1980s. Editor, Allen & Unwin Pty., Limited Australia, April 1985, ISBN 0-04-320169-5
• The Political Economy of African Foreign Policy: Comparative Analysis, editor. Palgrave Macmillan August 1984. ISBN 0-312-62253-8.