Could Nigeria have become a world power after its civil war in the 60s/70s

Nigeria is a nation blessed with abundant resources. It is on record that one of its past leaders was quoted as saying "that the nation has too much money" so he invested it into other African nations. My question is that could this nation have become a world power after its civil war
 

Zachariah

Banned
If this were in the Future History forum, sure it could. In this forum though, in the past tense? No, I don't think that Nigeria could- at least, not in any scenario which didn't involve nuclear armageddon and/or WW3.
 

ben0628

Banned
To be a world power, you need to have the ability to project influence across the globe, it's not just about military or economic strength.

For example 20th Great Britain and France were world powers because of there vast colonial empires that spanned the entire globe. The United States is a world power because it was able to grab the title defender of the free world. The Soviet Union projected itself as liberators and protectors of the world's oppressed proletariat. Modern China will probably be a world power in the coming decades due to it neo colonial/economic control of the third world.

Nigeria is unable to establish itself a role that'd give it global influence. At best it could be a regional power or leader of Africa if some alternate pan-Africanist movement takes form.
 
Not in the broadly accepted sense of 'world power', no. It could however have developed into a regional power and perhaps most powerful African state.
 

WILDGEESE

Gone Fishin'
Warning
Banging on the drums . . . wearing a tutu . . . and talking with a bone through a nose . . . er . . .no fucking chance!!!!!
 
Could Nigeria be more powerful than it is IOTL?
Absolutely, the amount of potential lost through bloody civil wars and corrupt dictatorships cannot be overstated.
Can it become a World Power on par with France or Japan?
No, for something like that you need a POD long before 1900 (and in a TL like that "Nigeria" as a concept probably won't exist).
 

CalBear

Moderator
Donor
Monthly Donor
Banging on the drums . . . wearing a tutu . . . and talking with a bone through a nose . . . er . . .no fucking chance!!!!!
I'm going to assume that this was just you screwing around since you haven't shown any leanings toward racism in the years you've been here.

Let's not revisit this moment, shall we?
 
Nigeria is a nation blessed with abundant resources. It is on record that one of its past leaders was quoted as saying "that the nation has too much money" so he invested it into other African nations. My question is that could this nation have become a world power after its civil war

I think a regional power is plausible. As to how far that regional power extends...

I think you'd have to go before the Civil War.
 
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Regional power is possible with good conditions and early enough POD. World Power? Impossible even with all-devastating WW3. With its oil Nigeria might be more important but even then you should screw Middle East very very badly.
 
It already IS a regional power.
To be more than that, they'd have to invest far more in infrastructure, rule of law, education, ....
I rather imagine it might be theoretically possible, but I suspect you'd need a PoD before WWII where Britain built more infrastructure (especially schools) in her colonies, to give them a better running start after independence.
 
Nigeria can barely project power within its own borders and has lost a significant area to boko haram, not exactly a good position to be in if you want it to be a world power
 
It already IS a regional power.
To be more than that, they'd have to invest far more in infrastructure, rule of law, education, ....
I rather imagine it might be theoretically possible, but I suspect you'd need a PoD before WWII where Britain built more infrastructure (especially schools) in her colonies, to give them a better running start after independence.
Well, perhaps we can have the Soviets penetrate deeper into Africa, thus leading the US to funnel aid and support into Nigeria like it did with the regime in Taipei and ROK.
 

Wallet

Banned
There are going to have a population equal to the US between 2040-2050 despite having only a quarter of the land.

If Africa was more united either politically or economically, having the capital in Nigeria would dramatically increase its prestige. Nigeria does contribute to UN peacekeeping forces. If the UN maintained permeant bases then Nigeria would have more power
 
Well, perhaps we can have the Soviets penetrate deeper into Africa, thus leading the US to funnel aid and support into Nigeria like it did with the regime in Taipei and ROK.
I suspect mere money isn't going to do it. They already had/have a fair bit of oil-wealth. It's how to spend the money you have that makes the biggest difference, IMO. And I suspect that US support might be counterproductive to that (compare Banana Republics in Latin America...)
 
They could be a regional hegemon that's more influential in world affairs. In terms of power projection beyond that, it's challenging.
 
focus on trying to unify Sub-Saharan Africa, then all of Africa.

The best thing you could do if you want to become a world power is to create a Unified African Identity (instead of seeing yourself as "Nigerian" see yourself and other countries as "African" and soley African), similar to how the Germans had their unification and the time to develop a sole "German" identity.
Africa's biggest curse is that there is too much infighting between countries and even members within countries for anyone on the continent to even worry about projecting power outside of the continent.

But it would never happen in our lifetime, any country that might become to powerful would get hammered down by outside countries for trying to change the status quo.
 
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