Between Reputation and Reality: A Comparative Assessment of Nigeria's Regional Power Status in Africa's Shifting Order

Publication Details

Publication Date

10/10/2026

Volume / Issue

Vol 1, Issue 5 (2026)

Article No.

030

Journal

British Journal of Contemporary Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67693/BJCR-SWB6N6GF

Received

10 Sep 2026

Views

20

Downloads

11

Abstract

This study interrogates Nigeria's long-standing self-image as Africa's foremost regional power, popularly captured in the sobriquet "Giant of Africa," against recent evidence suggesting the claim may no longer rest on secure empirical foundations. Drawing on regional power theory and, secondarily, middle power theory, the study examines Nigeria's economic performance, governance quality, regional diplomacy, and soft power between 2020 and 2026, benchmarking these against Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt, states whose comparative trajectories illuminate distinct dimensions of continental influence. Using a qualitative, comparative case-study design drawing on secondary data from the International Monetary Fund, Freedom House, and peer-reviewed literature, the study finds that Nigeria's economic volatility, though severe, is not uniquely so among the states examined, but that its regional diplomatic standing has suffered a more decisive blow: the 2024–2025 withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States to form the Alliance of Sahel States represents a genuine loss of regional followership with no parallel among the comparator states. The study further finds that Nigeria's regional and global standing appear to be decoupling, with continued advocacy for United Nations Security Council reform and G20/BRICS engagement persisting despite weakening regional foundations. These findings suggest that continental influence in Africa is increasingly distributed across multiple states and dimensions rather than concentrated in a single hegemon, and that Nigeria's foreign policy establishment faces a genuine strategic choice in reconciling its global ambitions with its regional realities.

License

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Free to read, share, and adapt with attribution.