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Intellection and Global Governance: The Festschrift Honouring Prof. Tunde Adeniran and Strategic Autonomy
Bola A. Akinterinwa
One major problem in contemporary international relations is the unending issue of insecurity and global governance. The cardinal purpose of signing the June 28, 1919 Treaty of Versailles in France at the end of World War I and for signing the June 26, 1945 Treaty of San Francisco in the United States at the end of World War II is to put an end to war making. The UN Charter, in its Preamble, talks about preventing another ‘scourge of war’ or what Abraham Lincoln described in 1865 as ‘mighty scourge of war’ that afflicted the US during the civil war.
Unfortunately, preventing a war is largely a function of the mind and how the mind is governed. It has been argued that war begins from the mind and can also end there. War is always first in the mind before taking it into the battle fields. For purposes of peace at home, many countries constitutionally opted for neutrality in their foreign relations. They include Sweden which has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815 and Switzerland which also has not been in war with anyone since 1814. Austria, Ireland, Liechtenstein, and Turkmenistan are also considered as countries with policies of neutrality.
The problem of international insecurity has been much thought-provoking to the extent that questions are being raised as to which countries will be safe in the event of another World War. Countries that are geographically isolated like Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji, and the politically neutral countries like Switzerland are considered as safest. Unfortunately, World War III is a matter of time because of the complex challenges militating against global governance. For instance, does Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel want peace in Gaza? How do we explain verbal condemnation of Israel’s genocidal crimes, on the one hand, and aiding and abetting Israel with the supply of sophisticated weapons in committing the crimes? Which of the P-5 of the UN Security Council wants expansion of the Council with the right of veto? Is the future of the UN bright if the 2025 UNGA had to be shifted to Geneva Office of the UN because of the US disrespect for the UN-US headquarters agreement by refusing to grant entry visas to the Palestinian leader and 80 others? This is the first background to the understanding of the Festschrift for Professor Tunde Adeniran.
A Preview of the Festschrift
In understanding the Festschrift, lets us begin with the title, especially in terms of the linkages between intellection and global governance. The title of the Festschrift is ‘Intellection and Global Governance: A Festschrift for Tunde Adeniran.’ What do intellection and global governance mean in the context of our analysis? What do we mean by intellection as distinct from intellect, intellective, or intellectual? Is the Festschrift not simply saying that Professor Adeniran is an intellection person? If we so admit, what is the place of an intellection person in the quest for strategic autonomy in Nigeria? What does the Festschrift say precisely? These are quite difficult questions to understand beyond the frequently raised issue of national interest.
Without whiff of doubt, the Festschrift in Honour of Professor Tunde Adeniran, a politologist and former Minister of Education, is not only thought-provoking, but also why it cannot but serve as a catalytic agent of Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy. The Festschrift is very relevant to the new Nigeria in the making. Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar has embarked on foreign policy agenda of strategic autonomy or self-reliant Nigeria. He is investigating how to build capacity to act in international relations without unwanted much dependence on other countries. But how does Nigeria engage in global governance which is generally poorly understood? What do we really mean by global governance and intellection?
The dictionary meaning of the word intellect is the ability to reason or understand or to perceive differences, relationships. It is about the power of thought, great mental ability. In brief, it is synonymous with high intelligence. An intellectual is said to be a person who engages in critical thinking and research. A person who reflects about the nature of reality, about the nature of the society and who proposes solutions is regarded as an intellectual. What about intellection? It is the ‘action or process of understanding.’ It is the exercise of the intellect, of reasoning. It also refers to the outcome of such an act.
Considered as such, having a title like ‘intellection and global governance’ is simply talking about the process of understanding the complex question of global governance. As further explained by Google, ‘intellection in the context of global governance refers to the process of applying knowledge, understanding, and strategic thinking to complex international challenges and the development of systems to address them.’ More importantly, ‘it involves not only understanding and global issues, but also developing effective solutions and implementing policies through international cooperation.’ If global governance requires coordinating the actions of states, the actions between states, organisations, and other international stakeholders, how do we explain the processes of the coordination? There is no disputing the fact that the processes cannot but require continuous learning, adaptation and integration of diverse perspectives in order to foster collective action.
More significant, understanding global governance can be by quantitative or qualitative or historical methodology or a combination of two of them. When the Festschrift is using intellection to present Professor Tunde Adeniran, there cannot but be a first assumption that Professor Adeniran is also part of the process, that is, he too is seeking an understanding of what global governance is all about. Besides, he must have been seen as an interlocutor of global governance, especially in his capacity as a distinguished professor of political science and international relations and as a former Plenipotentiary of Nigeria to Germany. True, the adoption of the title of the Festschrift suggests that Professor Adeniran is either a proponent of global good governance and hence the need to encourage special reflections on the subject.
Consequently, the importance of the Festschrift is best explained at two complementary levels: mania of the Festschrift and relevance to Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy. In terms of mania, the Festschrift has joined many other activities organised to honour people to whom honour is due. There have been many Festschrifts I have had opportunity to attend. For example, the Federal University of Technology honoured Professor Felix Akinsola Akinyosoye on Friday, 14th February, 2025 to mark his 70th anniversary and retirement from active service. His mentees surprised everyone with a book publication in his honour which is entitled Microbes, Mentorship, and Beyond: A Festschrift in honour of Professor Felix Akinsola. Akinyosoye. The editors are Professor Bamidele Juliet Akinyele, Professor Kayode Rowland Monday Ojo, and Dr Akinsemolu Adenike. The book addressed several microbiological questions.
In the same vein, there was also the case of Professor Femi Badejo when he turned 70 earlier in the year. His mentees and former students, as well as colleagues similarly organised a symposium, entitled ‘Politics is Interests: Interrogating the Role of Special Interests in Nigeria’s Development.’ It was held on March 4, 2025 at the Tayo Aderinokun Lecture Hall of the University of Lagos.
Thus, unlike the style of ‘jollofing’ to borrow the word from Dr Reuben Abati of Arise News, eating and wining, music and dancing, thanksgiving services in the mosques and churches, etc., academics now appear to have adopted a new style of celebration of birthday anniversary. Organisation of seminars, colloquium, symposiums, dovetailing into academic publications are the current and common features of anniversary celebrations in modern-day Nigeria. People who are rich still construct buildings and donate. They give scholarships to the under-privileged in the society to further their education.
The particular case of Professor Tunde Adeniran is not different except that it is taking place at a time of special struggle to make Nigeria greater and all efforts at intellection, which are required for the articulation of the processes of strategic autonomy, have become a necessity. The Festschrift, which is in a book form, is still under print. An electronic preview shows that it has 22 chapters and a pagination of 570. Professor Gani Yoroms of the Bingham University and Chief David Femi Melefa, a former Commissioner for Education in Kogi State, Nigeria, are the editors of the book. The book is scheduled to be unveiled on 25th September 2025 at the International Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan. Very distinguished scholars of note, nationally and internationally, have made chapter contributions to the book. They include Professor Adigun Agbaje, Professor Bayo Olukoshi, Professor Tunji Olaopa, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Professor Aderemi Ajibewa, Dr Ekwere Kingsley and Stoffer Howard.
Festschrift and Strategic Autonomy: The Relevance
As shown above, a festschrift is a compendium of writings published in honour of a scholar while strategic autonomy is about the action of a state or a region of the world to act independently in its own interest and without being overtly dependent on anyone. The Festschrift is also about intellection and global governance. What is intellection and what is global governance? What is the linkage or relationship between intellection and global governance? And more inquisitively, what is the relevance of the two to the quest for strategic autonomy in Nigeria? By intellection and global governance, we simply mean the process of applying the union of knowledge, understanding, and strategic thinking to international problems, as well as to the development of systems to solve them.
As further explained by artificial intelligence, intellection involves understanding global issues, as well as developing effective solutions and implementing policies through international cooperation. More important, it says that intellection is ‘central to the study and practice of global governance, which seeks to coordinate actions between nations, organisations, and other actors to manage shared problems, a process that requires continuous learning, adaptation, and the integration of diverse perspectives to foster collective action.’
Thus, when addressing the relevance of a festschrift to the quest for strategic autonomy, we are simply asking how do the festschrift, or the scholarly works, contribute to the development and understanding of strategic autonomy. Strategic autonomy is about rules-driven governance, military and politico-economic governance. Since intellection is also about the processes of understanding, the festschrift and strategic autonomy are nothing more than an understanding of the processes of how to make Nigeria achieve the status of strategic autonomy in various ramifications in international relations.
For instance, there is no disputing the fact that the Festschrift has the potential to provide insights for policy makers in defining and achieving Nigeria’s strategic autonomy in the areas of trade, industry, technology, security, and even in the ruling party’s renewed hope agenda, etc. And without doubt, when the Festschrift will be unveiled five days’ time on Friday, 25th September, the contributors can further investigate the concept of strategic autonomy, encourage a deeper understanding of strategic autonomy, especially within the framework of global governance.
Undoubtedly, the discussions cannot but generate new ideas. Intellectual leadership will be generated. Further research will also be inspired. Opportunities to build networks and collaborations will also exist. By so doing, the foundational principles of 4-Ds as pillars for building a strategically autonomous Nigeria cannot but be strengthened. Nigeria will be given a new identity as a global actor in the making in the comity of nations. In the long run, Nigeria’s strategic autonomy may have the character of openness in the mania of the European Union, but with a difference in prioritisation in the domain of application. In the context of Nigeria, it will allow charity to begin at home, by enabling the application of the principles of foreign policy concentric circles. Some of the titles in the Festschrift clearly lend much credence to our observations here.
For instance, in the foreword to the Festschrift, the former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Anambra State University, Professor Elochukwu Amucheazi, drew attention to two critical points that explain the importance and relevance of the Festschrift. First, he said that Professor Tunde Adeniran ‘saw himself as being on a reformative and transformational mission when he went into politics in Nigeria. At various levels and different capacities, he introduced politics of ideas and insisted on due process, accountability and the primacy of the rule of law.’ More notably, Professor Amucheazi has it that ‘he made significant impact within the framework of his roles in national orientation and the management of educational and diplomatic sectors. When he felt that without disciplined and incorruptible political parties, Nigeria would not realise the goals of a vibrant democracy, good governance, stability and development, he offered to serve his political party.’ Of the 4-Ds diplomacy of Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, one of them, democracy, has been made a critical issue of governance which strategic autonomy has to address.
The second point of note is that Professor Adeniran sought the mandate of leadership of his party in the strong belief that he had a good agenda of internal party democracy, discipline, transparency and accountability. Most unfortunately, the ‘beneficiaries of the prevailing despicable situation took control of the electoral process. With some gatekeepers also determined to prevent a radical departure from the manner of doing things by the party leadership, Adeniran opted out of partisan politics, assumed the status of an elder statesman and continued with serious research and writing for which he has always been known,’ to borrow the words of Professor Amucheazi.
Many points are deductively more noteworthy. First, observers of Nigerian politics have always remarked there is nothing impossible in Nigeria and that Nigeria is a terra cognita for corruption, ineptitude, indiscipline and political chicanery. In the eyes of one British Prime Minister, Nigeria is ‘fantastically corrupt.’ What makes a country fantastically corrupt? Corruption is corruption, but when it is qualified as fantastic, it simply means it has gone beyond the ordinary if not beyond the extraordinary.
It has always been argued that if you cannot beat those already in the system, then join them. Put differently, if you cannot convince them to go along with your novel ideas, the option left is to join them. But joining them to do what? Professor Adeniran joined his party to influence political direction and ensure that things are done normally. What is abnormal for Professor Adeniran is quite normal for his other veteran politicians. Thus it was ‘No’ to his novel ideas. He therefore resigned. Is the resignation from partisan politics not one major reasons for titling of the Festschrift for him as ‘intellection and global governance’? Is it not that he wants to interrogate the processes that informed the attitudinal disposition of political leaders in Nigeria, especially in terms of not wanting to do with political chicanery and recklessness?
By opting out of politics, it means that the saying that ‘if you cannot beat them, join them’ is not a solution in itself. Professor Adeniran is incapable of changing the mania of doing things in the political parties, he withdrew and refused to join them. In this regard again, does the withdrawal solve the problem? Will the Festschrift meaningfully address the impact of the withdrawal from politics? In the Nigeria of today, it is difficult to identify any stratum of reading society. Public libraries do not have much meaning anymore. Students are compelled to go to libraries, especially because of their examinations. How many people read newspapers today not to talk about reading Festschrifts? But does this imply sitting down with arms folded and watching the situation as if one is watching a cinema?
The answers to these questions are the desiderata explaining the importance and relevance of the Festschrift to the quest for strategic autonomy. Professor Adeniran’s opting out of politics appears to be a re-strategy, an attempt to combat societal indiscipline, not from a political angle, but as an intellection person. This largely explains why there are many chapters dealing with questions of governance, insecurity, and indiscipline. For instance, it is particularly noteworthy that Professor Adebayo O. Olukoshi, a former distinguished scholar of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, wrote on “Nigeria: Character Builds a Nation, Dignity Transforms it” in Chapter Twenty-one. Is it not because of the despicable character of politics that forced Professor Adeniran to ‘Andrew’ himself out of politics in Nigeria? Who really is building a Nigerian nation? No one so far. It is politics of stomach adjustment and ethnic chauvinism that has not always been made beneficial to the people. In terms of dignity, does it even have any space in Nigeria where there are no efforts to put Nigeria on the path of nation-building? Professor Olukoshi undoubtedly has in mind a normal and decent society of politicians in writing his chapter. In Chapter 22 of the Festschrift, Professor Julius Ihonvbere wrote on “Re-inventing Politics in Africa: Towards Participatory Mechanisms and Principles of Constitution Making.” It is a chapter that aims at filling the vacuum of participatory mechanisms in Africa. Another good chapter it is. But what does this really mean for African leaders that see no problem in making Africa as a dumping ground for unwanted international criminals? If Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar is suggesting a holistic approach, strategic autonomy, as a new foreign policy grand strategy in building a good Nigerian character, then the Festschrift for Professor Tunde Adeniran @ 80 cannot but be a most welcome development. Joyeux anniversaire and several decades of healthier returns of the D-Day.
