Joe Garba's Legacy: Thirty-Two Selected Speeches and Lectures on National Governance, Confronting Apartheid and Foreign Policy

By Fatima Nduka-Eze

Joe Garbas Legacy Selected Speeches and Lectures On National Governance, Confronting Apartheid and Foreign Policy

Joseph Nanven Garba came to international attention in July 1975, as a member of Supreme Military Council in Nigerias new military government. Then a Colonel, the commander of the Brigade of Guards and a distinguished career officer, fate, which some call luck, thrust upon him the role of Commissioner (Minister) for External Affairs, after initially being slotted for the Transport portfolio. A diplomatic neophyte, Garba, who characterized himself as the most undiplomatic soldier there was, would learn the finer points and also the caprices of international diplomacy on the job. He did well, serving as Nigerias foreign minister, from 1975-1978 and consequently holding key diplomatic, academic and political positions - all which offered him the unfettered pulpit to speak assertively on national and international issues within his remit. When Garba spoke, people listened; for he was eloquent, had the personality and did not dodge heady issues. He had gone from an unknown quantity, whose appointment as Foreign Minister, had elicited from the Nigerian intelligentsia the terse reaction, Garba Who? to become a skillful and renowned diplomat and an assured voice of Nigeria. The thirty-two speeches and lectures in this volume represent just a fraction of the many he delivered. They are presented in remembrance and as a befitting legacy on the tenth anniversary of his passing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469194134

Fatima Nduka-Eze

About The Authors Fatima Nduka-Eze is an Attorney and Joe Garba’s daughter. Oseloka Obaze, an international civil servant and political analyst was Joe Garba’s Special Assistant and Speech Writer from 1987-1990. He collaborated with Garba on the books, The Honour to Serve (1993) and Fractured History (1995) and was until Garba’s death in 2002, a close confidant and adviser. Captain Kamarudeen A. Olatunde, (Rtd) formerly of the Nigerian Army, was Joe Garba’s Aide-de-Camp from 1970 to 1981 and was until Garba’s death in 2002, a personal aide, close confidant and adviser.

Book preview

Joe Garba’s Legacy

Thirty-Two Selected Speeches And Lectures

On National Governance, Confronting

Apartheid and Foreign Policy

Fatima Nduka-Eze

With Oseloka Obaze & Kamarudeen Olatunde

Copyright © 2012 The Estate of Joseph Nanven Garba.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2012905994

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4691-9412-7

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112217

DEDICATION

To the Evergreen Memory

of

Image6532.JPG

Joseph Nanven Garba, CFR, PSC, FSS

(17 July 1943-1 June 2002)

A

true patriot,

an honest and caring man

who believed fervently in Nigeria

and understood fully the imperative of

honor and country. Until the end, hard work

and forthrightness were habits he never lost.

Contents

PROLOGUE

Part I

1  THE ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

2  TO CARE IS POLITICALLY CORRECT

3  DISSENT IN A DEMOCRATIC POLITY: OPTIONS IN A PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

4  NIGERIA—THE WAY FORWARD

5  REAL LEADERS MAKE SACRIFICES

6  BEYOND THE TRANSITION: WHAT VISION, WHAT GOALS?

7  12 JUNE MUST STAND! REMARKS ON THE OCCASION OF RECEIVING AN AWARD FROM THE EAGLE CLUB OF NIGERIA

8  THE CHURCH AS AN ENABLER

9  POWER SHARING—A POLITICAL IMPERATIVE

10  THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE IN THE REALM OF POLICY MAKING

Part II:

11  THE PROBLEM OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

12  IAN SMITH’S INTERNAL SETTLEMENT IN RHODESIA (ZIMBABWE)

13  BEYOND APARTHEID: TOWARDS MAJORITY RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA

14  NIGERIA-SOUTH AFRICAN RELATIONS IN A POST-APARTHEID ERA

15  TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PEACE AND STABILITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Part III:

16  AFRICA AT THE CROSS ROADS

17  FOREIGN POLICY AND THE PROBLEMS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

18  ARMS RACE: A THREAT TO WORLD PEACE

19  WHO IS NIGERIA’S BEST AMBASSADOR?

20  LET’S SURVIVE THIS PEACE

21  STATEMENT AT THE OPENING OF THE FORTY-FOURTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

22  CHANGING EAST-WEST RELATIONS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR AFRICA

23  CHANGING GLOBAL ECONOMIC PATTERN: THE NEED FOR A MORAL AND MORE HUMANE CONSIDERATION OF AFRICA’S ECONOMIC PLIGHT

24  UNITED NATIONS AND AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT

25  POST-COLD WAR REALITIES: WORLD POLITICS AS SEEN BY PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

26  AFRICA’S INTEREST: EAST-WEST RELATIONS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS

27  NEW POLITICS AMONG NATIONS: EMPOWERING THE UNITED NATIONS TO DEAL WITH THE 1990S

28  THE RIGHT SPIRIT

29  THINKING IN TIME

30  THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE EMERGING GLOBAL REALITIES

31  CHANGING INTERNATIONAL SITUATION: THE PLACE OF AFRICA AND NIGERIA

32  AFRICA: A TIME FOR HOPE, RESOLVE AND CHANGE

IN LIEU OF AN EPILOGUE

TRIBUTES TO JOE GARBA

Acknowledgements

This work is a labor of love and the fulfillment of pledges made many times over, when it seemed all too perfunctory and rather convenient. We, as the co-authors, are glad to honor our pledge; knowing, as we do, that it might have lingered and even gone unfulfilled.

This volume titled Joe Garba’s Legacy, offers Joseph Nanven Garba’s broad perspectives on national governance, confronting apartheid and foreign policy. Yet in rendering our views and knowledge of Joe Garba as a preface to his collection of speeches, and lectures, we are mindful that this work would still be a dream without the support of many of friends and admirers who were equally committed to seeing that this publication came to fruition as part of marking the tenth anniversary of Joe Garba’s death. We owe them our gratitude for the moral, physical support and advice.

Several individuals deserve mention. Mr. Ezekiel Akano, Joe Garba’s Confidential Secretary at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, who undertook to retype all the speeches and lectures and did so with exemplary efficiency. Our thanks go to Ambassador Ejeviome Eloho Otobo, Dr. Orobola Fasehun, and Ambassador Gordon H. Bristol, who contributed severally to drafting speeches for General Garba during their respective tenures at the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations in New York. Our sincere thanks to Nkiru Balonwu, who assisted in proofreading the manuscript.

We salute and thank General Yakubu Gowon, a great man of renowned magnanimity, deep humility and graciousness, who without much prodding agreed to write the foreword, thus putting to rest any lingering doubts about his relations with Joe Garba.

To our spouses, family, friends and supporters who in many ways contributed to making this project a reality, we are indebted. Finally, we thank General Garba. He remains in our hearts a great father, boss, friend and compatriot. His memory lives on as does his dream for a great and egalitarian Nigeria. Joe, this one is for you.

Fatima Nduka-Eze

Oseloka Obaze

Kamaruden Olatunde

Lagos, Nigeria,

28 January 2012

Foreword

The quintessential Joe Garba was my most loyal and gallant soldier/officer who served me and the Nation for nine years that I was Head of State of Nigeria. He served faithfully as Commander, Brigade of Guards responsible for the personal security of the Head of State and Lagos, the then Federal Capital, but for his surprising and unexpected participation in the events of July 29th 1975 for which he subsequently sincerely regretted. This regret made brotherly reconciliation possible and restored the old trust and confidence between us. I am therefore proud and delighted that Joe Garba’s family called on me to write the foreword to the compilation of Major-General Joe Garba’s collected speeches titled Joe Garba’s Legacy.

Joe Garba’s Legacy is a compendium of some of his lifetime speeches divided into three parts:

Part I - Perspectives on National Governance (His involvement)

Part II - Confronting Apartheid (With prescient insight he tackles, inter alia, Nigeria-South Africa relationship in a post-apartheid era and sustainable peace and stability in the South African sub region)

Part III - Perspectives on Foreign Policy (His experiences)

Joe Garba’s Legacy is a collection of thirty-two of Garba’s speeches as Nigerian Foreign Minister and President of the 44th Session of the UN General Assembly; his speeches as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative and Director-General, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru-Jos, Plateau State were not left out. It is a rich collection of ideas spawned by great thoughts and desire to promote Nigeria’s image, growth and development. They are also reflective of his role and service to our country. Joe Garba openly dreamt for Nigeria’s peace and progress so she could assume her rightful leadership role in Africa. He worked hard towards achieving that dream. Because of my personal knowledge of Joe Garba, I can affirm and confirm that these speeches are vintage Joe Garba. The topics were clear, the materials succinct and to the point. A lot of the issues were known to me, and I was privy to some of what he had to do at the United Nations. An example is the issue of South Africa where I was labeled by apartheid South Africa as its ‘enemy number one’. General Joe Garba was aware of this and he reflected our feelings by writing chapters 11 and 15 on apartheid South Africa and sustainable peace and stability in Southern Africa.

Joe Garba showed a lot of concern for Nigeria and humanity in general as highlighted in the various speeches he delivered. It is wonderful to see that he did not forget the true foundation of our association. He remembered to utilize views and concerns that are relevant in raising humanity to a higher level. This collection of speeches shows that the young author did mature, for he was accurate in displaying his budding intellectual maturity.

Garba also grew in stature as an effective, able, persuasive communicator for all nations. His contribution at the UN was immense and credible. While in exile in London, I was one of the first he informed that he had been elected President of the 44th Session of the UN General Assembly. I rejoiced with him and sent a congratulatory message to him for his election and ascendancy to the esteemed position. The message honored Joe Garba, Nigeria and Africa and perhaps the whole world. The beginning of Garba’s UNGA presidency tenure coincided with a British Telecommunications (Telegraphic) Union strike. Communication was held prisoner, for nothing went out or came into the UK telegraphically. We fortunately found a sole source for messages in and out of the UK. We both owe a debt of gratitude to this source in the Wireless Cable Company, who dutifully relayed my message to the UN. That message to Joe arrived in time for the reception on 19 September 1989, and it gave happiness and joy to Joe and all concerned; it also restored and strengthened the excellent relationship pre-July 29th 1975. The reconciliation helped boost the image of Nigeria. It surely gave Garba the needed confidence and uplift to handle difficult issues; knowing that his former boss was supportive.

Every speech in this volume is instructive and good reading. The collection is a valued contribution to existing works on administration, governance and foreign policy anywhere and everywhere. He must be duly congratulated and commended for leaving such a rich legacy. Mrs. Fatima Nduka-Eze (Nee Garba), in collaboration with Oseloka Obaze, Kamarudeen Olatunde and Professor Jean Herskovits, must also be congratulated for compiling this comprehensive volume to honor and commemorate the tenth anniversary of the passing away of the late Major-General Joseph Nanven Garba. This work has revealed Joe Garba’s high quality, excellent upbringing, personal development and maturity. I recommend this book to all and sundry; buy a copy to read, learn, mark and inwardly digest these edifying speeches, all presented in one condensed volume. Joe Garba’s Legacy will serve a useful tool in the hands of students, administrators, historians, government personnel, individuals and within international organizations. The ideas and views espoused in this collection are pertinently apt for the times Nigeria is going through. No reader will regret possessing Joe Garba’s Legacy.

General Dr. Yakubu Gowon, GCFR

Former Head of State of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria

15 April, 2012

Prologue

Until his demise on 1 June 2002, some forty-five days before his 59 birthday, Joseph Nanven Garba, fondly referred to as Joe Garba by many, was a household name in Nigeria and well known internationally.

Joe Garba had been in the public light for twenty-seven years, from that fateful day on 29 July 1975, when he announced to Nigerians and the world that there was a new military regime in his country. In all those years of public service, his presence, contribution and participation in Nigeria’s leadership and governance, remained prominent in different ways.

Although soldiering was his career of choice, diplomacy became his forte, so much so that he would in time, become one of the most authoritative foreign policy voices in Nigeria and advocate for Africa. His visibility and candor endeared him to many observers and his compatriots, but was also a put off for some. But even his critics respected him, for clearly; he was not averse to taking positions, publicly. For all his accomplishments, Joe Garba, unlike many in his generation realized and accepted that if there were any failings by his generation of Nigerian leaders—and there were many—he also shared fully in them.

Born 17 July 1943 in Langtang, Plateau State, Nigeria, Joe Garba belonged to the Tarok martial tribe. Although he occasionally described himself, mockingly, as a simple minded soldier from the interior North, he rose from an officer cadet to the rank of a major-general in the Nigerian Army. From 1962 to 1980 as an officer in the Nigerian armed forces, Garba commanded various military units up to and including a Division, before retiring from the Army. In 1978, as Nigeria made the transition from military to civilian rule, the then Major-General Garba was reassigned as Commandant of the Nigerian Defense Academy.

It was, however, in the often-intricate world of global diplomacy that Joe Garba would eventually cut his niche, first as a youthful foreign minister, and later on, as Nigeria’s ambassador to the UN, the Chairman of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid, and the President of the 44th Session of the United Nation’s General Assembly in 1989.

After a long sojourn in the United States, Joe Garba returned to Nigeria and ventured into active politics in the mid-1990s. With the return of Nigeria to civilian rule and participatory democracy, he was appointed the Director-General of the National Institute for Policy And Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru in October 1999, by President Olusegun Obasanjo, a position he held until his death.

Incidentally, Garba took up the NIPSS job several weeks before he was to assume the position of UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Angola, replacing the late Alioune Blondin Beye, the SRSG who was killed in a plane crash on 26 June 1998. In the interim, Beye had been temporarily replaced by Ghana’s Brig. Seth Kofi Obeng and later, by Guinea’s Issa B.Y. Diallo, who was SRSG from August 1998 to February 1999. Secretary-General Kofi Annan wanted a much more experienced person to handle the Angola dossier and had turned to Garba. Since the announcement of Garba’s appointment as the Director-General NIPSS, was made before his UN appointment was announced, Garba, after much reflection and, in the national interest, opted to accept the NIPSS job to and remain in Nigeria. At his behest and that of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Angolan position went to Nigeria’s Professor Ibrahim Gambari.

Joe Garba had the remarkable ability to adapt and immerse himself in any enterprise he was involved in. His rich experience and background, qualified him for many tasks and as such, he was highly sought after as a public policy problem solver.

After leaving the military, Joe Garba held many political, diplomatic and academic positions including: Director, Sub-Saharan Africa Security Project, under the auspices of Carnegie Corporation of New York and Ford Foundation and the International Peace Academy, (1997-1998); Director, Southern African Security Project, Senior Research Fellow, under the auspices of Carnegie Corporation of New York and Ford Foundation, (1991 to 1996); Minister of State in the Nigerian Presidency, (Jan.-Oct. 1990); and President of the 44th United Nations General Assembly(1989-1990).

Garba served as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1984-1989). During this period he also served as Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, and Chairman of United Nations Special Committee on Peace Keeping Operations and Vice-Chairman of the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa.

From 1975 to 1978, he was a member of the Supreme Military Council, Nigeria’s highest ruling executive and legislative body, and the Federal Executive Council, where he held the Cabinet portfolio of Minister for Foreign Affairs. As Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, General Garba led Nigerian Delegations to General Assembly sessions from 1975 to 1978. He was President of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Conference of Foreign Ministers on Economic Issues, held in Kinshasa, Zaire, in December1976; and of the World Conference for Action against Apartheid, in Lagos, Nigeria, 1977, and, he served as President of the United Nations Security Council in January 1978.

Garba was educated at the Nigerian Military School, Zaria (1957-61); MONS Officers Cadet School, Aldershot, England, (1962); the Staff College, Camberly, England, (1972-73). He attended the National Defense College in India (1980), before going to Harvard University as a Fellow at the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Center for International Affairs (1980-81); He earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (M.P.A.) from Harvard University (1982-83); He attended Institut de France, Villefranche, France, (Jan-Mar. 1991).

Garba received several honors including: Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR); Grand Officer de L’Ordre National du Benin; Doctor of Laws (LL.D), State University of New York, Purchase, N.Y. (1991); Doctor of Laws (LL.D), Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria (1991); Recipient of Harvard University Fifty World Problem Solvers Award (1988); Recipient of The Diplomatic World Bulletin’s Diplomat of the Year Award (1990). His many military honors include the Forces Service Star (FSS).

Joe Garba was a voracious reader and keen student of political history. As if he sensed a need to leave a legacy of his thoughts and views, Joe Garba lectured widely and delivered numerous addresses on governance, foreign policy, and various international issues, with emphasis on peace and security in Southern Africa, apartheid and conflict resolution in Africa. He was an eloquent speaker and a keen writer, who authored seven books: Revolution in Nigeria—Another View (1981); Diplomatic Soldiering (1987); The Honour to Serve: Reflections on Nigeria’s Presidency of the 44th U.N. General Assembly (1993); Towards Sustainable Peace and Stability in Southern Africa (1993); Restructuring the South African Military (1994); Fractured History: Elite Shifts and Policy Changes in Nigeria (1995); Militaries, Democracies and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa, (1997).

The present volume represents a glimpse into his broad viewpoints on various contemporary national and international issues. His volume of selected speeches and papers is a product of love and fulfillment of an obligation. It is also meant to bequeath to posterity a fitting legacy of a patriot and nationalist, who so ably represented Nigeria and Africa in the international fora.

In his 27 years in public life, Joe Garba delivered far more speeches and lectures than those contained herein. However, the 32 speeches and lectures we have selected, are meant to represent the tender age of—32—at which Garba prominently entered into the Nigerian policymaking realm and became the nation’s youngest ever foreign minister. Being entrusted with such a responsibility at that age was unprecedented in the annals of our national experience. But it was also a mark of trust and the high esteem that his colleagues had for him. He lived up to the challenge.

If Joe Garba had a singular gift, it was his ability to think on his feet, make quick decisions and contextualize complex ideas. He was fully attuned to the notion that good leadership at any level, was about setting goals and accomplishing them. As a nationalist, he was very comfortable working with people from all parts of the country. As a soldier and as a diplomat, he fully understood the imperative of duty, honor and service to country. As Bolaji Akinyemi noted, Garba was a committed gentleman who was loyal to the cause he believed in… had an open mind and was receptive to ideas.¹ If there was one underlying reason why we embarked on this task, it rests on the realization, that Nigeria is a nation that easily forgets its heroes. For this reason, alone, we considered this task important.

Joseph Nanven Garba had numerous admirers and his share of critics, too. Nonetheless, in his lifetime, whenever he spoke on behalf of Nigeria, he unfailingly did so elegantly, eloquently and passionately. Even those who differed with Garba grudgingly acknowledged his personal flare, great verve and erudition. This volume is offered both as our testimony to his contributions and his legacy to Nigeria.

Introduction

Joe Garba’s Legacy:

Joseph Nanven Garba In A Historical Context

General Joseph Nanven Garba, CFR, an officer, former foreign minister and former ambassador of Nigeria to the United Nations died in Abuja on Saturday 1st June, 2002. Until his death, Joe Garba remained a man of unusual promise. Hence, as it was on the day after his demise, and indeed 10 years later, it is most fitting that some of his friends and admirers would revisit the legacy he bequeathed to Nigeria. After all, Nigeria has proven to be a nation not so much without heroes but one that forgets those heroes so quickly, once they are gone.

The reason for this enterprise aptly titled Garba’s Legacy2 is therefore, twofold: First, Nigeria is a nation of convenience that very easily forgets the contributions made by its nationals once they are no longer on the national scene and especially, once they are gone. Second, Nigerians have become too inured by the present and their preoccupation with the future that they now have the tendency to totally block out the past and lessons that ought to derive from it.

Joe Garba, will be remembered by Nigerians for different reasons. Many will for his role in the 29 July 1975 peaceful and bloodless change of government and others, for his proactive role as the foreign policy spokesman for Nigeria, a time that many still believe represented a watershed period in Nigerian foreign policy. But Joe Garba was far more than a foreign policy guru. He was a patriot, albeit frequently misunderstood, but nevertheless a man who loved and served his country faithfully and passionately until his death. By extension, he also served Africa and the world.

In its first fifty-two years as an independent country, Nigeria has produced twenty-six foreign ministers. Joe Garba was number six of that lot and is still considered by many, the most active foreign minister Nigeria ever had. The record of his dynamism during that period is well captured in his book, Diplomatic Soldering. Because his remit and sphere of competence was soldiering and diplomacy, there has always been a tendency to consign Joe Garba strictly to those two roles. Undoubtedly, foreign policy was his best remit and the theater where he thrived and made his mark.

Unquestionably, Joe Garba was the last true vicar of Nigerian foreign policy. Despite their individual accomplishments, many of those who succeeded him as foreign minister were at best their masters’ voice. The reason Joe Garba exercised great influence in the conduct and management of foreign policy than his successors was because he was simultaneously a member of the Federal Executive Council (cabinet) and of the Supreme Military Council (the highest law making body) of the military regime to which he belonged. This was the military equivalent of being a member of cabinet and legislature at the same time. But there was also that personal touch and commitment. As Rasheed Adesoka observed, Garba in his lifetime changed the [wrong] perception the public had of the military to a complimentary one through his expertise and professionalism. With little knowledge of international relations, he got himself and Nigeria trusted in the international arena and took the challenge head-on to the extent that, up to date, he probably remained the best Foreign Affairs Minister Nigeria ever had.³ Joe Garba, as even his most trenchant critics would readily admit, was the voice of Nigeria and indeed Africa. As the foreign minister of Nigeria, when Joe Garba spoke people listened. As President Dwight D. Eisenhower once wrote to John Hay Jock Whitney, his ambassador to the Court of St. James: Rarely, is one man endowed with many gifts as you possess and possessing them, knows how to use them effectively.⁴ The same was true of Joe Garba.

It is well known that Joe Garba served the nation creditably in various high positions. His uncanny ability to speak bluntly on any issue, though unsettling to many, was a rare gift. He was also endowed with the gift of discernment. The Joe Garba we knew and worked with could read people very easily. This intuitive gift would perhaps explain why he was always quite dismissive of charlatans. Joe Garba had an immense capacity for straight-talk and as such, was always able avoid the peddling of gratuitous half-truths or dodging of heady and controversial issues. Garba rarely dithered when asked or tasked with coming up with a decision. In the end, Garba’s unremitting candor—some will say brusqueness—always translated into knowing where the man stood and what exactly he was trying to convey to you. As a person and patriot, his passion for Nigeria was unbridled and his ideals and vision of what the country could achieve, unfettered and undimmed. But Garba was also, a very capable and visionary administrator. Those who served under him at the Federal Brigade of Guards, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Nigerian Defense Academy, the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations and finally, the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, will readily testify to this fact. When he passed, the participants of Senior Executive Course 24 (SEC24) at NIPSS, said in their collective eulogy; he was a gentleman who significantly influenced the exercise of Nigerian foreign policy… and set the standard for probity and accountability in his numerous stations in both public and private life.⁵

Joe Garba’s life was premised on a combination of luck and confidence. His sometimes very visible combative attitude frequently masked his great humility and shyness. After all, this was a son of a marshal tribe chief, who was nevertheless sent off to live with a distant relative in Shendam. Some of his experiences from that sojourn marked and defined young Joe Garba, to the extent that he had an acute revulsion for bread, having once as a child, been severely punished for eating bread. This and several of his other youthful encounters, forced Garba to become introspective, compassionate and quite vocal in many regards. But then, being a public figure had its everyday challenges and Joe Garba lived up to them very well, at times beyond expectation, much to the envy of his peers and contemporaries.

Joe Garba was politically minded and believed he had the leadership qualities required to serve, lead and advance Nigeria. This fact was publicly known⁶ and further underpinned by his foray into partisan politics, first by establishing his own party and later merging with All People’s Party (APP).⁷ As Sabella O. Abide, observed, Sadly, he passed away at 58 without achieving his dream of becoming Nigeria’s President. He will forever be linked to the coup that displaced General Yakubu Gowon; but more than that, he will be remembered for his vigor, his vision and vitality in Nigeria’s Foreign Service.⁸ Garba would eventually accept an appointive position in 1999 from the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Nigeria. His willingness to serve Nigeria in various positions of power was sometimes misread as his being overly ambitious; this perhaps explains why he was never elected to public office.

As if Garba knew that he would not live to see old age, he strived hard to document his thoughts and views through his extensive speeches and lectures and through his seven books. His tenure and account of stewardship as Nigeria’s foreign minister and as President of the 44th UN General Assembly were respectively documented in Diplomatic Soldiering (1987), and The Honor to Serve (1993). But it is perhaps from his last major work on Nigeria, Fractured History (1995), that one can truly begin to glean and grasp Garba’s commitment, love, vision and understanding of Nigeria’s politics, aspirations and failings. Until his personal papers are assembled by his family and made public, it is unlikely that Nigerians, especially those in the academia and research will fully fathom the legacy Garba left behind. It is noteworthy to mention that aside from being in the forefront of the trend to contribute and direct a proactive Nigerian foreign policy, Garba was a Panglossian optimist, who did not spend time dwelling on disappointments, though he encountered many in his public and private life.

Be this as it may, a smidgen of Joe Garba’s thinking and views on various national and international issues can be gleaned from different sources for those who care enough to look. Garba also never shied away from putting his thoughts about various issues on paper and sharing them with his friends and with various Nigerian leaders. This book of his speeches and essays will become an important source of his views. We know too well, that various Nigerian Heads of States from President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Shehu Shagari to the late Gen. Sani Abacha benefited from his personal insights and constructive criticisms. Often, these were rendered privately and in writing. We can only wish that these leaders will one day choose to bequeath Nigerians access to such candid exchanges. Ironically, whereas it is often the case that those in leadership in Nigeria rebuff unsolicited counsel, it was interesting for us to witness the many and varying international actors that frequently called on Joe Garba to seek his views on different issues. It is doubtful that someone who was not trusted or whose views were not valued would receive the honor of his views being canvassed frequently. Joe Garba did, and as always, he treated these exchanges with his interlocutors with the confidentiality and deference they deserved.

Garba was the quintessential public policy problem solver. It was a role he reveled in. It was not surprising, therefore, that in 1988; he was one of the fifty people chosen worldwide to receive the Harvard University Fifty World Problem Solvers Award. Those who knew Garba and those who nominated him for the award, shared a common vision and appreciation of Garba’s abilities in this regard. From our vantage point as Joe Garba’s assistants, confidants and friends, we became aware of some of the demands made on him, even when it seemed like his own country Nigeria no longer needed him. Many stories and diplomatic accomplishments will illustrate this fact, but a few are recounted here, which the co-authors were personally privy to when they happened. In doing so, we hope that Garba’s various interlocutors will forgive our placing in the public domain, events that transpired mostly in private and conducted with utmost confidentiality.

When in the early 1990s, a constitutional crisis in Lesotho led to a face-off between the military leader, Major-General Justin Lekhanya and his commanders, Col. Elias Ramaeme, Lt. Col. Sokobe Thaabe Letsie and Lt. Col. Joshua Letsie, the latter two being powerful nephews of King Moshoeshoe II, it was Joe Garba that was urgently summoned to Maseru to broker peace. Lekhanya had earlier on led the coup that deposed King Moshoeshoe II, who was exiled briefly but later on restored, albeit divested of his executive and legislative powers. Lekhanya and the Monarch had an uneasy truce, which troubled the younger officers, some of whom had grown suspicious of Lekhanya’s political brinksmanship. Furthermore, there had been allegations of a right wing death squad operating in Lesotho, being protected by Major-General Lekhanya.

The younger officers wanted Lekhanya out, either peacefully, which meant a dismissal by the King or alternatively, by taking matters into their own hands. But Lekhanya was not just the Head of the Military Council that led the government; he was also the Prime Minster, Defense Minister and the head of the Army. This created an awkward situation for the Monarch, who needed urgent outside help, but was untrusting and unwilling to turn to apartheid South Africa or the United Kingdom, where his nephews had their military training. He did the next best thing and turned to Garba who was a trusted personal friend. After spending seventy-two hours in Maseru, Garba was able to defuse the tension, thus buying time for Major-General Justin Lekhanya to be eased out eventually, when he was overthrown in a bloodless military coup in 1991.

Around the same period, the global anti-apartheid forces had also rallied and blocked the development of the Lesotho Highland Water Project, on the account that it would benefit apartheid South Africa. Again, it was Joe Garba that stepped in to physically assess the project, evaluate its import for the landlocked Lesotho economy, and eventually secure for the small landlocked nation, the much needed reprieve it sought. In undertaking that task, Joe Garba was of the opinion that the project must be viewed in the long-term, and its value to a South Africa free of apartheid, should be taken into account. The political survival of Lesotho was also another influencing factor.

Perhaps one of the most critical and unknown role Garba played was during South Africa’s transition away from the apartheid era. At that time, it was clear that some commanders within the South African Defense Force (SADF) were willing to resist the end of apartheid by force of arms.

There was also the question of who was to lead the new SADF. Many believed that in the absence of late Chris Hani, that the role should naturally fall on Gen. Bantu Holomisa, the charming and very personable military leader of the Transkei Homeland. But then again, political calculations in a transitional South Africa warranted a different scenario. Again, Garba was called in.

Almost instantly, Garba developed a close relationship and understanding with Gen. Holomisa as well as some of the top Boer military commanders including General Johannes Jannie Geldenhuys, and in the end helped in facilitating and fashioning the restructuring of the military, not just in South Africa but in the Southern African sub-region. It was Garba who first brought the entire military commanders in the region, including ANC representatives together for a meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe with some international security experts to discuss the restructuring of South Africa’s security forces.⁹ He would again bring them together in a conference held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 1-4 December 1997, to discuss and strategize on Militaries, Democracies, and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Between 1993 and 1995, while directing the Southern African Peacekeeping and Peacemaking Project, under the auspices of the Institute for International Education in New York, Garba forged good working relations and indeed—that inexplicable camaraderie found only within the military, even between erstwhile adversaries—with some retired and serving senior South African military and police commanders in South Africa, notably, General Johannes J. Geldenhuys, Lt. General Pierre Steyn, Major-General Bantu Holomisa and Lt. General Sebastian J. Smit, and Major-General George Fivas. Garba’s constructive engagement with these military professionals would in the end prove contributory to the smooth transition of the South African military in the post-apartheid era.

It would not be stretching reality to aver, that Garba was more than anyone else, responsible for persuading Gen. Holomisa to pursue a political career rather than pursue the dream of becoming the first black head of the SADF. It had not been easy, but the time Garba spent with Holomisa in Umtata, Johannesburg and New York, eventually paid off. Until his death, Garba and Holomisa remained close and fond friends.

It was perhaps, Ms. Joyce Mujuru of Zimbabwe, who paid Joe Garba the greatest singular tribute in this context. We recall vividly, how during at a lunch hosted in Addis Ababa by Ambassador Brownson Dede, Ms. Mujuru asked why things had changed for the worse in Nigeria. She then remarked that when Joe Garba was foreign minister of Nigeria there had been clarity of policy and purpose. African countries, Zimbabwe included, toed Nigeria’s line and followed her foreign policy trajectory without question. However, soon after the civilians took over (1979), dissonance and lack of clarity ensued. Such an insight about Nigeria coming from a Zimbabwean, was certainly high and unvarnished accolade. But Nigerians that mattered knew Garba’s worth and used it efficiently when it suited them. This may explain why his appointment to the United Nations was the first public service post to be announced by the Buhari-Idiagbon regime in January 1984.

Even though Nigeria had an ambassador in the United States, when the United States Customs impounded Nigeria Airways 747 in April 1987, because one of the carrier’s pilot, Billy Eko, allegedly smuggled 71b of heroin into New York’s JFK Airport, it was to Joe Garba that the Federal Government and especially Minister of Aviation, Anthony Okpere turned to in order to secure the release of the plane. The aircraft was released after the Federal Government paid a $120,000 fine.¹⁰

Similarly, when in the late 1980s the United Nations cancelled their multi-million dollar co-financing of the National Metallurgical Development Center in Jos, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, the Minister of Finance and Dr. William Aderonpe, the Director of the center had to seek Garba’s intervention as the last resort for rescuing the project. Again, Garba delivered, after several testy encounters with UNDP Administrator, William Draper, during which in one instance, he bluntly told Draper that the Nigerian Government would consider it a hostile act, if the center closed down due to the withdrawal of UNDP’s support. His diplomatic demarche led to UNDP sending a reassessment mission led by Assistant Administrator for Africa, Pierre Clever Damiba to reevaluate the scheme. The center was saved.

Even mundane matters which required delicate handling in the national interest were thrust on Joe Garba. When Dr. Joe Wayas, the former Senate President who lived in exile in America was set to return to Nigeria, it was Joe Garba, not the Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S., who facilitated the arrangement, up to the minor details such as renewing Wayas’ Nigerian passport and procuring his travel ticket. We remember him forewarning Dr. Wayas that as standard operating procedure (SOP), on his arrival in Lagos, he could expect to be picked up by security operatives, while also reassuring him that all would be well. Garba was only able to give such an assurance, because he had the word of Vice President Augustus Aikhomu, with whom he personally coordinated the return.

In the spring of 1995, when Nigerian security operatives would not allow Prof. Wole Soyinka into the Nigerian House in New York for a literary event,¹¹ it was Garba who intervened. Interestingly, when the late Gen. Sani Abacha wanted to reach out to Wole Soyinka to ask him to temper his public criticisms of Nigeria, it was Garba that was asked to be the intermediary. We recall Garba repeatedly saying that the Military Government was wasting its time in undertaking the effort, given that Wole was a principled and stubborn person who stood firmly for what he believed in. He nevertheless passed on the government’s message to Prof. Soyinka. During a 1998 interview on Radio Kudirat, the subject was broached with Wole Soyinka, thus¹²:

Interviewer: While you are talking about the dangers you faced under Gen. Abacha, tell us, did he not also try to make peace with you?

Soyinka: "Yes, yes, he sent two emissaries, one through our foreign office, through an official there. The other was through a retired military officer, who is a friend of mine. He sent them to tell me each time, that I should pick representatives and he would send his people to meet us anywhere, anywhere in the world.

Interviewer: "Could that be Maj.-Gen. Joe Garba (rtd)?"

Soyinka: "No, I’m not going to tell you who he is. No, I’ve no objection… I’ve not seen him. If he says I can mention his name, I will tell you."

We have gone to this length to show that it was not for nothing that Joe Garba was chosen in 1988 as one of the recipients of Harvard University’s Fifty World Problem Solvers Award.

In 1993 when Chief M.K.O. Abiola was running for the Nigerian presidency, he was regularly in touch with Joe Garba. In the end, it was to Garba that Abiola turned for the drafting of the policy paper that would have formed his foreign policy platform. Babagana Kingibe, Abiola’s running mate was with M.K.O. Abiola the day the paper was hand delivered to Chief Abiola, who in his usual frankness told those present, what the contents of the envelope was and who it was from. Joe Garba’s desire to do good often went beyond the call of duty; in several instances it was almost fatalistic. Nonetheless, there was no denying that he gave consistent and deep thoughts to the challenges facing Nigeria, and how best to resolve them. Such deep reflections manifested, for instance, in his detailed exposé and far-reaching recommendations on the 1989 Constitution,¹³ at the time when Nigeria was holding a constitutional conference initiated by the Abacha regime.

At the height of the Abacha regime, very few dared to speak openly against the government. Garba was understandably circumspect but not reticent. After all, his dalliance with the Abacha regime had earned him scathing criticisms from some of his closest admirers. One such admirer, Dr. Onukaba Adoniyi-Ojo pointedly asked Garba once to challenge Abacha, adding bluntly that Garba was no longer the courageous officer he used to be. In response, Joe Garba said to Adoniyi-Ojo, Today, he (Abacha) is the head of state and I am not. If I challenged him and he locks me up, what will you do for me. Look, Adoniyi-Ojo you are beginning to annoy me. After that encounter, their once very warm relationship cooled noticeably.¹⁴

Thereafter, there was a particular incident that shook Garba. It was nothing profound, except that it revealed to him how draconian the Abacha regime had become. Joe Garba was traveling from Lagos to Abuja and was offered a ride on an Air Force executive jet by the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Ishaya Bamayi, who had some of his Staff officers with him. During the one hour flight, Garba used the opportunity to impress on Gen. Bamayi that he and his military colleagues in power, should do something to nudge the Head of State Gen. Abacha towards releasing General Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief M.K.O. Abiola and General Shehu Yar’Adua and other political prisoners. He also made the point that holding such eminent Nigerians in jail indefinitely was defeatist and doing untold damage to the international image of the country. Gen. Bamayi and his colleagues heard Garba out without saying a word in response.

Three weeks later, on a return visit to Abuja, Joe Garba called on General Abacha and was stunned when Abacha said to him, Joe, your conversation with the COAS and the message was faithfully delivered to me. Garba had been reported to Abacha as encouraging the military to do something supposedly, in their own thinking and parlance, a suggestion to oust Abacha. What surprised Joe Garba, was what Abacha said he told the boys; I told them that Joe Garba meant no harm. And that if every Nigerian was as patriotic as Joe Garba, Nigeria would be a great country. After Garba passed, Dr. Adoniyi-Ojo would recall how Garba had elected during the annual Murtala Muhammed Memorial Lecture held in Abuja on 13 February, 2000, to disclose to the audience how he had been criticized by Adoniyi-Ojo for his involvement in the Abacha transition and openly wished he had listened to him. For that open forthrightness and remorse, Adoniyi-Ojo wrote in his tribute to Garba; I was stunned. Not many people of his stature would admit their mistake. He did just that, publicly. For that, I will forever respect him.¹⁵ Admitting his mistakes, or as he called it, eating crow was a vintage Joe Garba trait that very few were accustomed to. He knew he was not infallible.

These positive appraisals should not be construed by any stretch of imagination to suggest that Garba rendered services to Nigeria greater than that of other Nigerians—far from it. However, in public life each person has his or her niche. When Garba spoke for or about Nigeria, the message mattered as much as the panache of the delivery. Yet, barely a decade after his death, his contributions and his legacy are hardly being assessed.

It is equally noteworthy, that some of the challenges in Nigerian foreign policy, which Joe Garba dealt with remain while a surfeit of others—Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan and Libya, to name a few—have since emerged. Interestingly, the responsibility for handling these portfolios and the shuttle diplomacy it entails, which Joe Garba handled so ably as a thirty-two year old foreign minister persist.

In Garba’s time, Nigeria was deemed Africa’s foreign policy bellwether and the general prognosis, including those by people like South Africa’s former president, Frederik Willem de Klerk, was that Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, would in time form the four power poles on the African continent. Though de Klerk’s grand vision has been partly realized, in so far as Nigeria is the pre-eminent power in West Africa, however, its role as a major continental actor has diminished, as South Africa has emerged as a significant regional player and a member of a host of global power networks such as G20, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa)—groups to which Nigeria ought to belong. Interestingly, in 2011, Nigeria, along with India, Brazil and South Africa, served as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. Assiduously as the Nigerian delegation worked on the Security Council¹⁶, under the leadership of Ambassador Joy Ogwu, it remained essentially outside the orbit of the IBSA caucus, reflecting, in the main, Nigeria’s overall waning foreign policy influence and her domestic realities. Such glaring disconnect stemmed mainly from national leadership limitations.

It is against this background of waning influence that one must revisit the rich but neglected foreign policy legacy late Joseph Nanven Garba earned and bequeathed to Nigeria. Even though his tenure as foreign minister was relatively short, it is highly implausible that anyone could write an honest and serious exposé on Nigeria’s foreign policy since independence, without a detailed reference to Joe Garba’s role. Hence, scholars, students and other commentators continue to admit that Garba’s tenure as Nigeria’s foreign minister remains one of the most vibrant and productive and ultimately remains the benchmark against which the conduct and management of Nigerian foreign policy is measured.

Paradoxically, many still believe that Nigeria and South Africa are engaged in a leadership role competition in Africa. This notion is attractive but fallacious, as South Africa has leap-frogged ahead of Nigeria. One needs only to revisit Garba’s 1992 speech at Nigerian Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at Kuru, titled, Nigeria-South African Relations in a Post-Apartheid Era, which is included in this volume for answers. His prescient words: "It is safe to say that South Africa is very well-positioned to assume the role of an economic leader and a power house for both regional and continental development if and when it resolves its political anomalies… . [Yet] our optimism has become an impediment. Also, there is this attitude by those in policymaking positions that tend toward an inclination of something-for-nothing. This is not right. There can be no foreign policy based on altruism. It will be fallacious to believe that we can base our national interest, and to wit, foreign policy on anything other than a quid pro quo. It is equally erroneous to believe that any policy that does not serve the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians has an abiding merit. Yes, it may for others, but that is not the objective of representing Nigeria to the rest of the world." Undeniably, Nigeria has glossed over these admonishments in places like Zimbabwe, Liberia and Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea.

In the summer of 2010, South Africa became the first African country to host the FIFA World Cup. This fact, along with others noted earlier, should serve as a reminder of the growing technical capability gap between Nigeria and South Africa. The recent uproar between both countries over the deportation of Nigerians from South Africa elicited the proper and proportionate response from Nigeria which led to a full apology from South Africa. During that episode, many compatriots were quick to assert that South Africa needs Nigeria more than Nigeria needs South Africa. While this view appeals to patriotic instincts in moments of crisis and mobilizes the population to rally around the flag, a number of factors actually point to the contrary. The South African firms are increasing their investments in Nigeria, reflecting their superior organizational and technological competence. More Nigerians are travelling to South for education, trade, medical treatment and leisure; thus transferring capital from Nigeria to South Africa.

In spite of these adverse trends, a visionary and strategic foreign policy—always an imperative—can rescue the situation. Well before Bolaji Akinyemi sought to place Nigeria in the thick of global policymaking via the Lagos Forum (Concert of Medium Powers), and Ibrahim Gambari enunciated the Concentric Circle approach as the pedestal for Nigerian foreign policy architecture, Joe Garba placed Nigeria squarely on the international arena with an assertive Afrocentric foreign policy. During Garba’s stewardship, Nigeria led and the rest of Africa followed; and Western nations cued their African policies on Nigeria’s presumptive position. It is to Akinyemi’s enduring vision and credit that the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) he founded, remains one of the key leveraging tools of Nigerian foreign policy; much less so, the African Development Bank (AfDB), where Nigeria established a facility to leverage her oil wealth to assist needy African nations. The two attempts—in 1995 and 2005—to present the candidacy of a Nigerian for the president of AfDB ended in failure, in spite of Nigeria being a major contributor to and shareholder in the African Development Bank, in addition to funding the Nigerian Trust Fund in the Bank.

Traditional diplomacy has long hinged on the notion made popular by Sir Henry Wotton that an ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country. Conversely, Joe Garba, proved and often said so publicly and through his conduct, that a diplomat is an honest man sent abroad to tell the blunt truth for the good of his country.

Frequently, Garba, an avowed Pan-Africanist, spoke so bluntly on behalf of Nigeria and Africa in ways that sometimes discomfited some of his interlocutors. Nevertheless, he unfailingly, delivered the message and the desired outcome without ambiguity. His excoriating of Arab nations in his memoirs, Diplomatic Soldiering for their lip service to Afro-Arab cooperation, elicited several high-level delegations to Lagos, to complain about such public and undiplomatic censure. In one instance, in the latter part of 1989, it fell on Ambassador E. N. Oba, a ranking Foreign Service Officer, to tell the Arab envoys accredited to Nigeria that Garba had spoken power to the truth; asking them if they could rebut the statements he had made, which contained verifiable facts.¹⁷

As Kaye Whiteman, observed of Garba, In maturity, he retained his brusque forthrightness, but remained a valued member of his country’s foreign policy establishment. To this, one merely needs to add, and his place as a valued and dominant African voice, too! An affirmation of this standing was made by Senate President Ayim Pius Ayim, who reacting to the news of Garba’s demise, said, By his death, Nigeria, and Africa, has lost one of its finest diplomats, patriots and staunch advocates of an indivisible and indissoluble African continent.¹⁸

It is hardly surprising that Garba’s interlocutors would perceive someone who reveled on brutal candor differently. It was, perhaps, that stark paradox and perceptive dichotomy that prompted the following remarks by Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi: Joe [Garba] meant different things to different people. Something was however consistent about him in his lifetime. He always sought to make a positive difference wherever he found himself. He was an uncommon and determined man. This surely is a broadly held view.

Garba was also a remarkable public policy problem solver. In policymaking, Garba readily recognized the vital place of principles which, to paraphrase George Kennan, accorded with the nature, the needs, the interests and the limitations of our country. He had the knack of thinking on his feet, in serious, sublime and mundane matters. He always contemplated the imponderables. Such abilities underlined his gravitas and placed Nigeria’s voice squarely in the realm of notable advocates on any issue he dealt with. As a general, foreign minister, ambassador, chair of the UN anti-apartheid committee, president of UN General Assembly, director-general of NIPSS or private citizen, when Garba spoke, people listened. Such were his bona fides as an interlocutor, a reality that mixed well with his poised persona. As Professor Jean Herskovit remarked, Garba "had enduring faith in the possibility of solving intractable problems, whether in Nigeria or