ABSTRACT

This study evaluates Nigeria-South Africa relations, from the period South Africa embraced democratizations as her government policy. The study focuses on the bilateral relationship shared between both nations with emphasis on politics, economics, military and socio cultural people to people interactions shared between individuals from both nations. The study traces the historical development and antecedents, by giving a background buildup of the uniqueness of both countries in respect to their colonial heritage and experiences, even though they were both under the administration of Britain, which influenced the relationship between both nations thereafter. The study argues that the relationship between both nations emerged as a result of the struggle for hegemony in Africa: Nigeria after her independence in 1960 adopted the Afrocentric policy and South Africa after freedom from the apartheid era also adopted a policy system similar to that of Nigeria’s Afrocentric policy. The study examines the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa as it is embedded on the theory of interdependence, in which the two states continue to depend on one another. It gives insights on different levels of interdependence between nations in areas such as politics involving interactions between various heads of states and how the decisions and policies they observed, impacted the relationship between both nations, economics involving a trading relationship between the two nations as they try to balance trade with each other and military involving both nations working together as African superpowers to keep peace and order in the continent. But all this have not been easy to maintain as these nations have come across challenges that tried to break up the relationship which they shared and alter the interdependence relationship between them into a comparative relationship. They study also portrays the positive impact of the relationship from the perspective of the nations and offers recommendations to solving issues in diplomatic relationship.

Keywords: bilateral relation, competitive, interdependence, Afrocentric policy, Nigeria-south Africa relationship.