Nigeria's Membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference: A Study of the Role of Personality in Foreign Policy

Abstract

Across many fields of human endeavour, leadership and its personality traits have long been recognized as an important variable that influence the success and failures of events. Also, the course of history from the days of yores till date is determined by the decisions of political leaders. Leaders and the kind of leadership they exert shape the way in which policies are made and the consequent behaviour of states either in the domestic or foreign domains. This assertion underscores the fact that individuals are not mere pawns on the chessboard of politics but active agents of political change, actors and authors of the drama of history. This paper examines the role played by few political elites during the 1 Babangidas' regime in Nigeria's diplomatic initiative to upgrade Nigeria's membership status in the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). The paper submit that policies and consequent behaviour of states in municipal and global politics are the results of personal actions and discretions of leaders.