CHAPTER ONE 1.1.BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
States in actual fact cannot exists in isolation, hence, once a state has been granted the full status of statehood by the colonial authorities it has the legal right to engage in relations both bilaterally and multilaterally on the international scene. With the country‘s independence, such state can now be declared a sovereign state. Nigeria gained its independence from Britain on October 1, 1960 and as such acquired the right to conduct its external relations with the rest of the world. But the reality of Nigeria‘s independence was that it was a poor state and there arose a need to create an avenue for relations with other countries of the world, both in Europe, Asia and North America such as the United States of America. The history of Nigeria and United States of America‘s formal relations is recent, but in consideration of the slave trade period, the relations have been estimated to have started as way back as the 18th century. Nigeria was a major supplier of slaves to the European countries especially Britain, which further traded some of these slaves to the United States. The trade in slaves led to the first informal contact between the two countries.
History has it that the coastal region of modern day Nigeria was referred to as the Slave Coast. Nonetheless formal relations between the two countries started after Nigeria‘s independence in 1960. According to one of the speeches given by the first Prime Minister Lt Alhaji Abubarkar Tafawa Balewa at Nigeria‘s independence, Nigeria needs to acquaint it self with the rest of the world to improve the country‘s overall status. The relations between Nigeria and the United States of America officially started when the President of United States of America, President Eisenhower was represented by Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York
at Nigeria’s independence ceremonies on October 1, 1960. That visit marked the beginning of diplomatic relations (Ayam, 2008). The first diplomatic envoy of the United States in Nigeria was on September 23, 1960 and since then relations between the two countries have continued to blossom especially in the economic sphere. Relations between Nigeria and the United States have historically been marked by cooperation, a degree of affinity and setbacks.