Nigeria’s Partner Membership of the BRICS: The Strategic Autonomy Linkage

Bola A. Akinterinwa 

Membership of an organisation varies according to the organisation. But, grosso modo, membership can be full, associate, observer, or honorary. In professional organisations, eligibility for membership is a major factor. An aspiring member has to be considered for possible acceptance, meaning that there must be shared interests before such consideration. In many international organisations, membership can be by origination, accession, invitation or conferment. For example, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) has three categories of membership: original members that involve the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). They are the founding members. The second category is membership by accession. South Africa was the first invited country to accede to the agreement establishing the BRIC and the acronym was changed to BRICS with the accession.

Under normal circumstance, in international treaty-making, when a treaty is done, it has to be signed. The signatories are considered original members. When the treaty enters into force following the attainment of the number of ratifications required by the treaty, any further signatures fall under the category of accession. What is noteworthy about original members and members by accession is that both categories are full members of the organisation. Full membership confers total rights, privileges and obligations. On the contrary, associate members have limited participation while membership by observation does not confer such rights. Observer status allows for monitoring but not to the extent of voting involvement. Some professional organisations have the corporate and government membership categories. In the context of the BRICS, there is the special category of invited partner membership. Nigeria’s membership falls into this category. 

Nigeria’s Partner Membership of the BRICS  

There are three main types of international organisations in international relations: inter-governmental organisations, international non-governmental organisations, and multinational enterprises. The BRICS is an inter-governmental organisation with three types of membership. There is the first category of founding members, comprising the BRICS. Instead of talking about members by accession, the BRICS has the expanded membership category which is the second category. It comprises Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Argentina was invited into this category but withdrew. There is the third group of membership, the partner members which covers countries that have interests and just to partner with the BRICS. Countries like Mexico, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria among others, are in this category.

It is important to note here that the formation of the BRICS is not a resultant from any formal agreement but from cumulative summits, dialogues, declarations, etc. For instance, the first informal meeting of the BRIC Foreign Ministers was held on the margins of the UN General Assembly in 2006 and was followed in 2009 with the first formal meeting at the summitry level in Yekaterinburg in Russia. This was also the beginning of the structured cooperation marked by a BRIC Joint Statement.

Following the accession of South Africa in 2010, the summit of all the five Heads of State was held in 2011. More importantly, Brazil played host to the next summit in 2014 where the Fortaleza Declaration was not only made, but also where the New Development Bank and Contingent Reserve Arrangement were established. More important was the most recent meeting of the BRICS’ Foreign Ministers held on Wednesday, 30th April, 2025 in Rio de Janeiro. Representatives of the expanded BRICS members were there. Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, represented Nigeria at the meeting.

Amongst the many global questions addressed at the meeting were trade and economic policy, which condemned protectionist trade and raised concerns about U.S. trade policies, especially in the areas of high tariffs; climate change and environmental cooperation, on the basis of which a call was made to the developed countries to enhance climate finance and not to use restrictive measures in global trade as a justification for combating climate change; global health and pandemic preparedness, which was taken as a major commitment to global pandemic preparedness; reform of global architecture, which not only endorses the current IMF governance reforms but also wants a comprehensive reform of the global financial architecture; cultural and technological collaboration, which calls for more cultural exchange program and citizen diplomacy (people-to-people interactions), as well as energy and food security, which underscores the need for food security and nutrition, access to affordable and reliable energy.

In his statement, entitled “The Role of the Global South in Reinforcing Multilateralism,” Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar noted that ‘in a world facing complex challenges from climate change and technological disruption to global economic instability, Nigeria stands with BRICS in calling for reforms that reflect today’s realities and empower the global South.’  Additionally, Foreign Minister Tuggar ‘noted that BRICS offers a viable collaborative alternative to outdated international structures, pointing to initiatives like the New Development Bank and discussion on a common payment system as signs of a more balanced global order in the making.’ Thus, Nigeria has reaffirmed her commitment to inclusive global order.

More significantly, Ambassador Tuggar availed himself of the opportunity to receive his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the side lines of the Rio Janeiro meeting on April 29, 2025. As noted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, ‘China welcomes Nigeria as a partner country to attend the BRICS meeting and supports Nigeria in actively fulfilling its responsibilities as the rotating president of the ECOWAS and playing a greater role in international and regional affairs.’

More significantly, Wang Yi said that ‘Nigeria is a large developing country and a significant member in the Global South, enjoying a great development potential and a promising future. China has always placed Nigeria in an  important position in  its overall diplomacy and relationship with Africa and firmly supports Nigeria in safeguarding its state sovereignty, and national dignity and in following a development path that suits its national conditions.’

Without doubt, it is this type of international recognition of Nigeria’s efforts that Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy is all about. Strategic autonomy is earning international respect. It is about safeguarding state sovereignty and national dignity. It is also about enhancing the development potential of Nigeria. No wonder Ambassador Tuggar similarly told the Chinese counterpart what he too wanted to hear: Nigeria appreciated ‘the support provided by China for Nigeria’s economic and social development,’ and that ‘Nigeria will continue to firmly abide by the One-China principle.  And perhaps most significantly, Ambassador Tuggar said that ‘Nigeria expects to jointly implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and accelerate Africa’s industrialisation.’ 

Thus, there is no disputing the fact that, when Ambassador Tuggar pointed out that strategic autonomy is the ‘fulcrum’ of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he largely meant that it is a major defining philosophy of political governance. In other words, every political, economic, technological or cultural undertaking must be done with the ultimate objective of how to achieve strategic autonomy or self-reliance to begin with and how to use the tactical strategic autonomy ultimately to have a foreign policy grand strategy. To a great extent, Ambassador Tuggar appears to be treading the right path, quietly re-presenting the new Nigeria in the making to the world. The mere fact that China,  a major stakeholder and founding member of the BRICS, has friendly welcomed Nigeria’s partner country status, the likelihood of the use of the BRICS by Nigeria to achieve some of her foreign policy strategic objectives means better days cannot but be coming to borrow the words of Jimmy Cliff: ‘better days are coming. Let us now address the linkage between the quest for strategic autonomy and Nigeria’s partner membership of the BRICS.  

The Strategic Autonomy Linkage

Nigeria’s partner membership of the BRICS is consistent with Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy by building on the doctrine of 4-Ds (Development, Democracy, Demography and Diaspora). The doctrine as a new idea is being raised to the higher level of diplomacy, that is, it is no longer being simply considered as an indestructible idea but elevated to doctrine as a tactical technique of achieving a self-reliant status for Nigeria. Consequently, we are talking about the diplomacy of 4-Ds as an instrument of attaining strategic autonomy.

Strategic autonomy and non-alignment as policies are two sides of the same coin. The fundamental difference in the two is that non-alignment, as adopted under Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa in 1960, was mainly reactive. It was about not blindly following the lead of any bloc of powers and ensuring that policy decisions were taken on the basis of the national interest. Strategic autonomy is basically about self-reliance, self-determination, and self-authorisation like non-alignment. And perhaps more fundamentally, strategic autonomy is about proactivity and not simply reactivity.

Put differently, strategic autonomy, as being conceptualised by Ambassador Tuggar, is a foreign policy project in the immediate but aimed at evolving a foreign policy grand strategy in the long run. It is against this background that Nigeria’s interest and partner membership of the BRICS should be explained and understood. There is therefore a strong linkage between Nigeria’s strategic autonomy and her partnership with the BRICS.

As reported by The Cable Report Afrique, Ambassador Tuggar has always said Nigeria has interest in joining the BRICS and that Nigeria would join ‘at the right time’ as the country is committed to strategic autonomy. The manifestations of the quest for strategic autonomy are not far-fetched: Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, participated in the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa in August 2023; Nigeria is not only cooperating with Russia on energy projects, but also seeking alternatives to western financial systems along with Russia. 

In this regard, it is important to note that Nigeria’s partner membership of the BRICS, and particularly Nigeria’s cooperation with Russia and other members of the BRICS is to enhance the attainability of the objectives of strategic autonomy. Without any whiff of doubt, one major dynamic for the quest for strategic autonomy is the consideration that, sooner than later, Africa cannot but become the new theatre for great power rivalry in light of the new situational reality: movement from a unipolar world to a multipolar world. Ambassador Tuggar noted during an interactive session in Washington, DC, that ‘we are very wary of Africa becoming the ground for the great power contestation that has changed from a unipolar to a multipolar world. Our outlook is that of strategic autonomy.’

And perhaps more interestingly, Ambassador Tuggar had it further that ‘we get along with everyone. We also have a history of non-alignment but we are democratic. We have had several successive elections since 1999. We don’t want to see any private military company or mercenaries on our continent. True enough, Nigeria has a history of non-alignment but not really in the sense of non-alignment. The original meaning of non-alignment in Nigeria’s foreign policy is that Nigeria could always align or refuse to align. The decision would only be determined on the basis of the dictates of Nigeria’s national interest. Consequently, many observers of Nigeria’s foreign policy have accused Nigeria of not complying with the principle when the Cold War was at its peak. Indeed, it is difficult for anyone to rightly argue that Nigeria aligns or does not align simply because it is also difficult to determine which Nigeria’s national interest is at stake. No one knows when an interest is that of the whole nation or that of the state. Everything is believed to be in the national interest, when the situational reality points to selfishness at its best. However, the way Nigeria’s Foreign Minister is going about the quest for strategic autonomy, especially as a partner country of the BRICS, is encouraging.

First, as a partner country, Nigeria’s autonomy is guaranteed in terms of freedom of engagement in the BRICS. This is an important linkage. Secondly, Nigeria’s partner membership of the BRICS has the great potential to enhance her quest for strategic autonomy, by not only enabling a platform for multi-alignment and reducing unnecessary reliance on any single power, but also providing a room for alternative governance structures. Thirdly, Nigeria’s choice of partner membership is helpful to the quest for strategic autonomy because the BRICS being informal, paves the way for many flexible engagements and manoeuvres unlike organisations with strict rules and obligations. Fourthly, the BRICS is an alternative platform beside the UN General Assembly which is generally used by many countries to engage in bilateral diplomacy vis-à-vis countries with which diplomatic missions have not been established. Meetings on the margins of the UN General Assembly clearly point to this observation. 

Even at the funeral ceremony of the late Pope Francis, US President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seized the opportunity of the ceremony to engage in a sort of tête-à-tête diplomacy. Thus, partner membership of the BRICS has the potential to promote a better rapprochement with great powers like China and Russia. More important, Nigeria’s foreign policy objective is justice-seeking and fairness. The BRICS, which is similarly seeking strategic autonomy vis-à-vis Western hegemony in the management of global affairs, cannot but also enable Nigeria to learn lessons from and share her experiences with the BRICS.

Fifthly, Nigeria is an advocate of a just international system and cherishes the principle of sovereign equality. In fact, Nigeria is a chief advocate of UN reform which has been to no avail. The BRICS is frontally challenging the Western-dominated Bretons Woods institutions and also wants the international economic system de-dollarised to enhance political coordination, development and economic growth. In this regard, Member countries of the BRICS are all required to underscore economic cooperation and coordination and promote trade and investment, manufacturing and minerals processing, technology and innovation, ICT cooperation, connectivity, agricultural cooperation, and science.

And probably most interestingly, while Nigeria is seeking to make use of the BRICS to facilitate Nigeria’s strategic autonomy, Indonesia precisely opted for autonomy rather than accept BRICS membership (vide https://eastasiaforum.org). First, Indonesia considered the reasons of non-alignment. Secondly, Indonesia does not want to be seen as a friend of one and the enemy of another. More precisely, Indonesia does not want to be seen as hobnobbing with the United States in security matters and tilting towards the Chinese in economic affairs. Indonesia does not want the credibility of her bebas aktif (free and active) doctrine to suffer or thrown into the garbage of history. 

In essence, the purpose of Nigeria’s partner country membership of the BRICS goes beyond promoting shared values with all the Member States of the BRICS and the BRICS+ but to particularly also use the BRICS to foster the strategic autonomy of Nigeria in the current world of globalisation and realignments. Ambassador Tuggar’s foreign policy technique is to underscore strategic partnership with countries that can be helpful to ensuring that Nigeria is strategically autonomous. It is against this background that Ambassador Tuggar paid a three-day visit to the United Kingdom where he sought enhanced cooperation in trade investment, media, technology, and academia.

Nigeria is much interested in having a Permanent Seat on the United Nations Security Council and also wants to be relevant in global governance. All these issues are pillars of strategic autonomy and it necessarily requires the deepening of diplomatic ties with relevant global allies. This largely explains why Ambassador Tuggar is making a tooth-and-nail effort to foster strategic partnerships and also expanding Nigeria’s influence in several multinational institutions, including the BRICS, the G20 and the G7.

Above all, the linkage between Nigeria’s partner membership of the BRICS and quest for strategic autonomy also extends to the issue of sub-regional security at the level of Nigeria’s immediate neighbourhood. Strategic autonomy is particularly about self-security, freedom from political chicanery and imminent terrorist threats from the immediate neighbourhood. With the intervention of President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic in the  conflict-ridden Celestial Church of Christ, worldwide, Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy, beginning with the immediate neighbourhood, cannot but be seriously threatened. President Talon is seeking peace and unity by sharply dividing the Church and by wrongly assuming that he is more knowledgeable than Chief Olusegun Okikiola Obasanjo who had intervened in the matter, but to no avail, a situation that has served as a catalytic factor in the taking of the matter to the court by the Board of Trustees of the Church. President Talon wrongly believes that by side-tracking or removing Nigeria in the conflict resolution and by particularly ignoring that the dispute is in a court in Nigeria, he is bringing more shame to the church and insecurity to Nigeria. With the arrangements of President Talon and the expected va-et-vient movements between Benin and Nigeria, the inflow of more terrorists into Nigeria cannot but threaten Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy.