Roles of Nigeria in African Union’s peace and security operations in Sudan

Abstract

Across Africa, Nigeria has played major role in peacekeeping partly because Africa remained the cornerstone of her foreign policy stance. This Afrocentric stance was tested in Nigeria's involvement in the lingering crisis in Sudan. Indeed, the crisis has had severe impact on both Sudan and other neighboring African states in terms of huge devastating effects on human and food security and other fallouts associated with the conflict. The need to forestall peace in Sudan stimulated the decision of Nigeria's government to send her troops to Sudan. While the initiative tointervene in the Sudan crisis by Nigeria has generated commendation and attention, especially in the way Nigeria is keeping to her core foreign policy principles, it also raises doubt about the sustainability and success of the peacekeeping operation in Sudan. Drawing on qualitative systematic review and collective security theory, this study examined the roles of Nigeria in African Union's Peace and security operations in Sudan. The findings showed that Nigeria has greatly exhibited its Afrocentric foreign policy stance by providing a disproportionate number of troops to support the African Union's attempts to bring peace and stability back to Sudan. It was also discovered that Nigeria's peacekeeping operation in Sudan was flawed with challenges ranging from troops' human casualties, financial limitations, and inadequate equipment. It concludes that Nigeria's intervention in Sudan helped to dowse tensions and facilitated the delivery of relief supplies to certain areas of the country, improved security for civilians and internally displaced people, and influenced peace negotiations between rebel groups and the Sudanese government.