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Okechukwu, Groupson-Paul UC.; Offu, Peter 

 

CONTENTS AND APPLICATIONS OF CITIZENS DIPLOMACY 

AND TRANSFORMATION AGENDA: A CONTEMPORARY DISCOURSE 

 

Okechukwu, Groupson-Paul UC. PhD 

groupsonpaul@yahoo.com 

Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo(FUNAI),   

Abakaliki – Ebonyi State, NIGERIA 

  

 Offu, Peter. PhD    

peteroffu@gmail.com  

Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo(FUNAI),  

Abakaliki – Ebonyi State, NIGERIA 

 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Citizen diplomacy, which is one among 

the several types of diplomacy, stands 

out as people based and oriented. This is 

owing to its daily usage for human 

interactions. In the contemporary era, its 

value apart from the consistent and 

continuous utilization, suggest a 

dynamic import of the changing world. 

For while, diplomacy according to 

Hamihton (1996), Walton (1954), 

Mcdermott (1976), Alken (2005), 

Stinnett (2005), Brahm (2005), Shultz 

(2005), Lund (1996) and Zartman 

(2007) among others points at being a 

peaceful conduct,… necessity for 

organised dialogue…honest person sent 

to lie abroad… management of 

international relations… and, the 

political scheming and intrigues that are 

well sustained among others, citizen 

diplomacy, on the other hand, not only 

been very important, is the concept that 

informs that every global citizens has the 

rights, even the responsibility, to engage 

across cultures and create understanding 

through meaningful person-to-person 

interactions (Clinton, 2003). 

 

In the words of Hoffman (1981), citizen 

diplomacy is recognized as a powerful 

force in building and sustaining a secure, 

economically sound, and socially 

interconnected world because it brings 

leaders and people from across the 

public, private and social sectors of the 

world to see the value in their citizens. 

 

Thus, Fuller (1970), one of the key 

pioneer of the concept, argued that 

citizen diplomacy is a grassroots 

initiative, geared towards promoting 

peace and development. This idea was 

initiated in the period of cold war 

between the West and East, to which the 

hatred and restriction puts the citizens of 

both regimes afar from each other. But, 

against the barrier, the citizen continued 

to travel frequently to both side, 

especially the Americans to alleviate the 

cold war. According to Fuller (1970), 

with the collapse of the Soviet Union, 

 

mailto:groupsonpaul@yahoo.com


 

 

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the degree of interactions and the idea of 

working in a hot political spots around 

the world helped to develop the intents 

and intentions of citizen diplomacy 

while trying to reducing tension, racism, 

and hates to promoting peace. This was 

simply because citizen diplomacy takes 

place when official channels are not 

reliable or desirable. Then, as peoples’ 

diplomacy, it is also a political concept 

of average citizens engaging as a 

representative of a country or cause, 

either inadvertently or by design. 

 

Evidence to these events show that with 

the first coining of the words by 

Hoffman (1981), that citizen diplomacy 

is actually a grassroots initiative, which 

transcend cultural bound, exchange of 

ideas and possible transformation of the 

society from one particular or many 

decadence to a more value proven ideals 

that attract and at the same time build 

confidence on the populace and visitors 

alike. 

 

More examples of these could be seen in 

the growing zeal for relationship and 

interaction between Israel and her Arab 

neighbours, North and South Korea and 

the Kind of racism that had vanished 

amongst South Africans and Afrikaners 

or white colors among others. 

 

Citizenship diplomacy, which is people 

driven for changing the system for better 

goes in line with transformation agenda 

because the key factor of transformation 

is that it is the peoples’ aspiration and 

must be people driven. But before the 

expected transformation can take place, 

the level of orientation and mindsets of 

the people, government and society must 

be tainted towards what is best for the 

nation? What do the people want? What 

do they want to make of the country 

values? How can the transformation in 

the country attract both friends and foes, 

how do the citizen project or sale the 

country to the outside world? How is the 

image of the country valued or cleave for 

by outsiders? Then, is the government 

meeting up with its expectation and 

responsibilities? And, have it fulfill its 

duty to the citizens and so on? 

 

Premised on this, the study attempts the 

analysis of the basic contents and 

applications of citizen diplomacy, 

citizen diplomacy in the contemporary 

interactions, the impact of citizen 

diplomacy and state transformation 

agenda in Nigeria with the intention of 

looking at the foreign policy posture, 

economic strength programmes and the 

kind of citizen qua citizen interactions 

and engagements, resulting from it and 

other effects of the concept to the 

general public vis-à-vis the desire for 

transformation. 

 

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF 

CITIZEN DIPLOMACY 

Citizen diplomacy arguably is very 

interesting and vibrant in the 

contemporary era, as it seems to contain 

several array of actions and activities, 

existing between individuals, 

communities and people with a 

deepened ties of relationship that 

holistically makes the world a common 

village; a door-to-door neighbourhood 



 

 

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interactions; a person-to-person 

familiarization; and a nation – citizen to 

a nation – citizen interrelations. It is an 

act that did not only enhance wellbeing, 

but boost and projects foreign policy of 

participating states to mutual 

understanding of the core values of their 

existence. 

 

Just as the scholars of this school like 

Robert Fuller, David Hoffman, Jenifer 

Clinton, Diane Chigas, Colin Powell, 

Sharon Teninson, Cate Malek, Alan 

Goodman, Christopher Washington, 

Fulbright and Jody William et al among 

others, sees citizen diplomacy as an 

embodiment of change, cooperation and 

peace amongst the people of the world. 

To them, it is a mission meant to 

promote excellence in citizens’ world 

over. It is a network of peacemakers, 

peace builders and development 

oriented minds away from conflicts and 

carnage and destructions. Citizen 

diplomacy helps to foster international 

understanding and cooperation, 

constructive economic connections, and 

peaceful interactions among cultures. 

 

It is imperative on these reasons that 

Goodman (2011:4-6) contend that 

citizen diplomacy is a concept that 

involves two seemingly disparate ideas: 

private citizens engaging in individual 

endeavours that serve their own interest, 

and diplomacy, which includes a 

framework for cooperation between 

countries. He further asserts that it is 

important to understand the impact of 

such activities on their home and host 

institutions; the wider communities and 

public diplomacy activities at large. 

People-to-people contact is becoming 

one of the key elements of diplomacy, 

and citizen diplomats increasingly 

complement the traditional forms of 

political diplomacy. 

 

Agreeing with this contention, National 

Council for International Visitors 

(NCIV) (2008:1) notes that citizen 

diplomacy is the concept that the 

individual citizen has the right, even the 

responsibility, to help shape foreign 

relations “one handshake at a time”. In 

it, resources of participant’s 

communities are matched with the needs 

of foreign leaders and specialist. It helps 

to opening their homes, offices and 

schools to foreign visitors participating 

in exchange programmes. 

 

To this effect, Chigas (2003) argued that 

citizen diplomacy speaks of 

transformation of attitude and 

communication, which is inextricably 

tied to the establishment of deep 

relationship of mutual trust amongst 

participants in official processes. To 

further expatiate this thought, he 

inferred that being both the friend or 

enemy at breakfast, in the meeting 

themselves, and at the bar at night, re-

humanized the conflict, crises, and help 

the participants recognize that they share 

many fears, needs, concerns and 

reasoning, while this new found trust 

and in some cases friendship, does not 

always extend beyond the boundaries of 

workshops to the outside as a whole, 

these helps personal relationship are 

critical to developing a processes for 



 

 

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coming to the table and dealing with the 

hurdles in negotiation. This is because 

citizen diplomacy gives voice to 

silenced or marginalized moderate 

perspectives in the public discourses. 

 

However, while agreeing with the 

notions of citizen diplomacy, Williams, 

Goose and Wareham (2008: xvii-xviii), 

posits that citizen diplomacy can 

complement official diplomacy or 

subvert it. This is sequelled to the fact 

that it can be taken as a practice and a 

form of intervention that can be 

extended to many part of the world, 

especially those in conflict, as existed in 

Syria. It also served as peacebuilding 

mechanism, of which in the latter, it was 

a combination of citizen diplomacy 

acting as specializes form of religious 

and conflict resolution platform. 

 

In a differing view, however, Malek 

(2013) reiterated that citizen diplomacy 

refers to unofficial contacts between 

people of different nations, as opposed 

to official contacts between government 

representatives, which may include 

direct contacts in joint activities of 

various sorts or in situation mediated or 

facilitated by unofficial third parties, 

private, peacemakers, scholars or any 

other unofficial bridge builder. To him, 

citizen diplomacy can help participants 

break down negative stereotypes they 

have of each other. 

 

Meanwhile, in a confessional statement 

about the working of citizen diplomacy, 

Washington (2014) revealed that “my 

first trip abroad introduced me to the 

customs and hospitality of people who 

were very different from the people back 

home, and ignited my ongoing 

commitment to citizen diplomacy… and 

that the more we are exposed to other 

cultures, the more effective we become 

at increasing the connectedness of our 

universe and global community”. In 

agreement to this, Powell (2005) 

affirmed that “I believe that our greatest 

strength in dealing with the world is the 

openness of our society and the 

welcoming nature of our people. A good 

stay in our country is the best citizen 

diplomacy tool we have”. 

 

To this end, Tennison (1987), summed 

up all about the value of citizenship 

diplomacy to the society as she posited 

that in early ‘80s, we Americans, 

determined in a period of desperation to 

try to reduce the tension between 

America and Soviet Union, begins by 

making decision to try their hands at 

diplomacy and put together the first trips 

to the land of the enemy. Upon arriving 

in Moscow, Leningrad and Tblisi, the 

Care Citizen Initiative travelers spread 

to soviet sidewalks, market places, 

schools and to rare apartment at the 

invitation of the soviet who risked 

dancing encounters with the KGB. The 

trip changed the lives of the travelers – 

each came back to America committed 

to public educators. This is citizen 

diplomacy at work. These contentious 

invariably, informed that as a citizen 

diplomat, you bring world issues home 

to doorstep of the people in the most 

direct way possible. 

 



 

 

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In view of the contentious and 

revelations of scholars above, this study, 

not satisfied with the kind of citizen 

diplomacy in most of the developing 

states like Nigeria and African continent 

as a whole wish to query certain 

government policies vis-à-vis dwarf 

foreign relations with other states, the 

poor manner of opening up of the 

system, and the level of poverty of 

leadership in existence in the latter. This 

is because, Nigerians, most of the 

African states citizen and other 

developing states’ citizen in particular 

has suffered rejections, deportation, 

imprisonment and other forms of 

maltreatments in other countries.  

 

A situation, which encouraged me to 

join issues with Idumange (2010) to 

query why is it that the kind of citizen 

diplomacy adopted, if any, by the 

present regime does not seem to have 

change the poor perception about the 

country? Why are the developing 

countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra 

Leone and Kenya among others always 

at the receiving end of humiliations 

when wanting to receive and not having 

to give to other states citizens? What 

kind of structures and or projects of 

citizen diplomacy driven can we say that 

replicates those of the western world in 

Nigeria and Africa as a whole? Can the 

transformation agenda/amnesty training 

programmes of the citizens outside the 

country by the present government be a 

light at the end of tunnel? Is the 

transformation agenda well-armed in 

contents and applications in exploring 

the values of citizen diplomacy to be 

initiated for the interest of the state or is 

it another hocus-pocus political agenda? 

Can there be a drastic change in the 

citizen diplomacy outlook at the end of 

this regime and or with a continuous 

order in regimes to come? What are the 

possible elements of citizen diplomacy 

advocacy on the ground in Nigeria and 

how has these organizations or policies 

helped to transform the state in closing 

the gap between Nigeria and other states 

in terms of relationship? Can one 

vehemently beat the chest and thumb-up 

for the unofficial bodies (NGO) in the 

country in promoting citizen diplomacy 

outside the country or is their attitudes 

and operations still suspicious to other 

countries? 

 

On this basis, it is affirmative true that 

citizen diplomacy is current and not yet 

fully imbibed or appropriated by most 

Nigerians both inside and outside our 

shore, not to talk of other African states 

that things are still in its crude stage. 

This is simply because the level of 

poverty is not only very high, the level 

of the quest for primitive accumulation 

has out-grown desires and bad and 

aspiring leaders who see the state 

treasury as an opportunity to cut and 

carry – home is still much with many 

Nigerians who also sees the Nigerian 

projects with misgivings. But if the 

concept placed on our table are properly 

and thoroughly scrutinized and 

generally accepted as a way forward in 

re-writing the name of this great country 

with golden pen, then, citizen diplomacy 

and the transformation agenda of the 

present regime and thereafter will 



 

 

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enthrone the much desired light of 

development in the Nation. 

 

CITIZEN DIPLOMACY IN THE 

CONTEMPORARY 

INTERRELATIONS 

Construing from the point of view of 

both Fuller (1970) and Tennison (1987) 

above, it is evidence to note that the 

essence of citizen diplomacy was to 

creating an understanding among friends 

and foes, to strengthen the ties between 

old friends while harnessing new ones in 

a free world of interactions and 

interconnectivities; and to discovering 

the unknown friend/person that was 

never met, never dream about. The basic 

reasons for this, is that there might not 

only be an avenue to exploring the true 

value of the world, but to let others also 

know what you know and to help many 

to advance the course of knowledge they 

possess by making all to understanding 

themselves. 

 

Thus, citizen diplomacy being a new 

way of interactions, interrelations and 

understanding among men without any 

restriction or otherwise, also emphases 

on mutual acceptance according to 

Rasmussen (2014), that it is not only an 

experience, but a lifetime continuum of 

opportunities to learn and enhance one’s 

cultural competency because everything 

as embedded in foreign relations 

promotion is inclusive in the activities of 

citizen diplomacy. Thereby, holding the 

postulations of Washington (2014), that 

citizen diplomacy explains the future of 

global prosperity, peace and stability, 

which depends also on the increased 

international cooperation, collaboration 

and mutual understanding. Meaning that 

the transformation agenda of the present 

regime can only be consummated by 

allowing the citizen to go out and sell or 

market the policies of the government, 

which in turn will boost the government 

foreign relations.  

 

Obviously, not overlooking the 

importance of citizen diplomacy, one 

would be quick to agree that it is the 

personal relationship that make a 

difference in every society, but with the 

relevancy of its activities, the 

legislatures in the present time cannot 

promote better international relations. 

Alternatively, it all depends on the 

citizens. It is the civic engagement of the 

citizen diplomats that leads to 

cooperation and mutual understanding; 

it is the values placed on it that is much 

cheaper and far more effective than war 

in the contemporary society (Gelder, 

2006). An example to this is the kind of 

cooperation, openness and 

interconnectivity exhibited by the West 

and other aware citizens of the world in 

ousting Col. Mamman Gadhafi of Libya 

and others in the wake of the Arab 

spring, which showed the true value of 

citizen diplomacy to what many termed 

as odd and detestable. The replication of 

that protest to all the seat-tight rulers of 

the Arab world, can also lead to the kind 

of change of government and the 

possible transformation of the state 

regimes to a new one in the latter. 

 

In addition to this, the fact should 

equally not be forgotten, about the role 



 

 

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of citizens, especially as it might equally 

be due to the level of the growing 

increase in citizen diplomacy from the 

unofficial agents (the NGOs) that 

doubled the size, awareness and 

campaign on the ‘bring back our girls’ 

protest, both inside and outside Nigeria 

on the adopted Chibok school girls by 

Boko Haram terrorist groups. 

 

Sequel to these deductions, it suffices 

then to say that the working of citizen 

diplomacy has made the world a smaller 

place, since it has been recognized as a 

powerful force in building and 

sustaining a secure, economically sound, 

and socially interconnected world with a 

uniting network (Zimpleman, 2014). 

This assertion has not only explained the 

new face of citizen diplomacy as a more 

unique and sophisticated tool in both 

individual and international dealings but 

it has also go in tandem with the 

contention of Eisenbower (1956), when 

he reiterated that, ‘I have long believed, 

as have many before me, that peaceful 

relations between nations requires 

understanding and mutual respect 

between individuals. If only people will 

get together, then so eventually will 

nations. 

 

In the same continuum, and from the 

look of things, one fact remains very 

clear, and that is, that citizen diplomacy 

is well-nurtured and profoundly 

established in the developed world like 

America, Britain, France, German, 

Portugal, Sweden, Denmark and Spain 

among others. This is simply because it 

engendered development, sustained 

development and advance technology of 

these states; unlike in the developing 

countries like Nigeria, Ghana, South 

Africa, Egypt, Angola and Congo DR 

among others where the level of 

interaction is moribund by several 

hiccups and terribly sterilized by the 

havoc of poverty and poor leadership 

problems. This is why many aspiring 

leaders or assumed leaders in African in 

particular, comes to the throne with 

contradictions of owned wind-hooked 

and white-washed programmes that 

turned out to be a conduit pipe to stealing 

funds meant for development and 

promoting citizenship diplomacy. 

 

 These defects, deficiencies and 

decimations, most find in the developing 

states of Africa like Nigeria during the 

long years of military aberrational rule 

and at the onset of democratic 

governance under Gen. Olusegun 

Obasanjo; the self-made life president of 

Zimbabwe – Robert Mugabe, Dennis 

Sasso Ngueso of Congo Republic, Paul 

Biya of Cameroon, Yoweri Museveni of 

Uganda and many other deadwoods on 

the throne of several African states 

governance replicating the opposites to 

establishing a platform where 

everything about citizenship diplomacy 

and contemporary interrelations are not 

only killed but daily monitored and 

restricted, thereby making the 

development of such under a social 

civility context impossible, because they 

cannot give what they have denied 

themselves to the citizen who are 

increasingly aware as the days goes by. 

Forgetting therefore, the common Igbo 



 

 

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adage that one cannot be a witch and at 

the same time, a poor man/woman. To, 

therefore, demanding that they must 

choose one, as their times are up. So that 

the citizen can involve themselves in the 

development of the contents and 

applications of citizen diplomacy 

goodwill, that invariably helps and 

encourage the transformation of the 

states; bearing in mind that citizen 

diplomacy in the contemporary 

interrelation helps to build individual 

while increasing the collective global 

fluency, which in turn creates economic 

opportunity, contributes to peace and 

stability, and develops leadership skills 

through global problem solving. 

 

THE BASIC CONTENTS AND 

APPLICATIONS OF CITIZEN 

DIPLOMACY: AN ANALYSIS 

Agreeing that citizen diplomacy is the 

right – if not the obligation of the 

individual citizen to be personally 

engaged in international relations in the 

contemporary era, shows that persons or 

groups engaging with people from other 

countries is an important boost to the 

host economy with adequate security 

guaranty. In countries where such is 

practiced, you notice that the essence is 

not only to exchange ideas, make friends 

and gain an understanding of each 

other’s culture and way of life, but it 

makes all the parties believe in the 

power of citizen diplomacy and 

involvement in the state governance 

through international exchanges. 

 

In view of this, according to Centre for 

Citizen Initiative (1983), Institute of 

International Education (2011) and 

National Council for International 

Visitors (2008), the basic contents and 

applications of citizen diplomacy 

include: Cultural/Social Exchanges 

Programmes, Educational/Scientific 

Exchange Programmes, International 

Exchanges Programmes, Agricultural 

Initiative, Environmental Initiatives, 

Developmental Programmes, 

Productivity Enhancement Programmes, 

Economic Development Programmes, 

Citizen Initiative Centres, and C.I.C. 

smaller programmes among others, 

meaning that, any other programmes not 

listed can be incorporated provided it is 

meant to promote citizen diplomacy. It 

is arguably to point out that the 

programmes contents cannot be the 

same everywhere, but instead there 

should be resemblance or a linkage, 

much as there is no standardization in 

the project of citizen diplomacy (Muller, 

2008). 

 

Meanwhile, beside the argument on the 

non-uniformity of programmes, one 

should not lose sight that there one some 

countries that these programmes are not 

known to, and neither do they 

understand the processes, plans and or 

workings of it at all. While this gap 

might have weakened most of the 

countries that it is unknown to, it might 

also have impacted greatly to advance 

the courses of the countries that practice 

it to an immeasurable height and wealth. 

On the other hand, there are countries 

that had engaged in it unknown to them, 

but because of the lack in knowledge, 

they had remained where they are till 



 

 

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date. Meaning that, international 

relations had gone beyond legislative 

officialdom into the hand of the common 

citizens who have the time and 

opportunities to interact with other 

countries’ citizens in a more decent and 

interconnected frequencies. 

 

With meaningful objective to explaining 

the workings of the above stated 

contents, let’s look at some critical 

questions, such as: How are 

organizations creating citizen diplomacy 

opportunities for the individuals from 

the outlined contents? What are the 

reasons for involving citizens instead of 

the normal technocrats or politicians? 

What programmes are being designed to 

address the emerging Needs? What tools 

and information are available to advance 

purposeful global engagements? Why 

has the message of citizen diplomacy 

failed to reach every citizens of the 

world, particularly in the developing 

countries? Why has the government 

machinery failed to inform the citizens 

adequately on what they ought to know? 

And what are the possible impacts of 

citizen diplomacy to states in the 

contemporary discourse? 

With attentions drawn to the raised 

questions above, the study at the same 

time will be attempting to evaluate the 

workings of the stated contents of citizen 

diplomacy side by side: 

 

(i) Cultural and Social Exchanges 

Programmes 

Among nation and citizen culture 

is a very vital issue. The culture of 

the people speaks for itself. It 

projects the value of the people or 

group. Thus, according to 

Zimpleman (2014), through 

people-to-people exchanges of 

cultural values, activities, 

friendship among others is 

established, which also in the word 

of Orbach (2010), we envision a 

world that thrives because of true 

global engagement, where 

individuals and communities’ 

benefits from person-to-person 

interactions that results in greater 

understanding between people and 

cultures. The greatest asset to this 

is the citizen diplomacy.  

 

Hence, citizen diplomacy does a 

lot in engaging people across 

culture, makes people to learn 

others’ culture, like dancing, 

music, relic, language and believes 

toward creating shared 

understanding and mutual 

benefits. It can be either way, that 

is, one traveling to the other and 

vise-versa, as we usually and 

always see people from different 

cultural backgrounds coming to 

Osun-Oshogbo festival every year. 

They not only visit the country but 

they learn many things about her 

while at the same time helping to 

publish the country’s image in a 

good light. Just as Rourke (2001) 

argued in the opposite that cultural 

misunderstanding can lead to 

tragic result, while the positiveness 

of it makes people to exchange 

idea, makes fund and gain an 



 

 

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understanding of each other’s way 

of life. 

 

(ii) Educational/Scientific 

Exchanges Programmes 

Citizen diplomacy has tremendous 

impact on the effectiveness of 

education, through exchange 

programmes. It impacts the ability 

of entire countries, regions and 

people. School exchange 

programme among students both 

in sciences and humanities helps to 

boost the international relations of 

nations.  

 

This exchange programme can be 

done through scholarship, 

fellowship, grant and even 

seminar/conferences. Citizen 

diplomats can be students, 

teachers, athletes and artists. It 

helps to engage undergraduates, 

graduates and researchers to 

explore their futures as globally 

competent leader. Apart from 

creating innovation, students are 

oriented into campus life, connect 

to resources opportunities in the 

school and, adequately equipped 

for future. Citizen diplomats need 

not work for only government; 

they can be teachers, students or 

anyone who has the opportunity to 

interact with people from other 

countries. As a citizen diplomat, 

student exchange programmes is 

ideal, the benefits are immense 

(Zimpleman, 2010). 

 

(iii) International Exchange 

Programmes 

This is a process whereby both 

individual and group may engage 

in exchange programmes. The 
international exchange programmes 

include business and academic 

communities with expressed intent 

of pursuing strategies to strengthen 

a country’s commitment to citizen 

diplomacy. International exchange 

can be by way of tourism, 

exhibition, shows, films, seminar 

and or other manners of 

showcasing wealth, culture, 

fashion and beauty contest among 

others. As contributors to a global 

community, every individual 

understand and acquired positive 

impact they expect as a citizen 

diplomats and are empowered to 

acting meaningful and purposeful 

to their society, because citizen 

diplomacy is a builder of bridges 

(Albright, 2001). 

 

(iv) Agricultural Initiative 

To enhance food sufficiency, 

especially in countries where 

urban migration and rural drift has 

rendered the agricultural sector 

impotent, Nigeria and many other 

poor countries inclusive, citizen 

diplomacy on agricultural 

initiative is established to involve 

every citizen in order to get food 

on their table for survival. With 

government credit facilities, 

everyone is encouraged to plant 

crops in the areas which includes: 

urban garden, rooftop garden, 



 

 

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support for new and old private 

farmers, massive seeds lifts, ocean 

shipments of food for supplies. 

Application of modern techniques 

of farming is important into the 

country to engage farmers. These 

new way of carrying out citizen 

diplomacy are geared toward food 

sufficiency and economic growth. 

 

Of which away from all the 

previous failures, the groundnut 

pyramid, millets, maize and cotton 

in the Northern Nigeria wouldn’t 

have today being a history; that the 

palm oil and fruits in the Eastern 

Nigeria wouldn’t have now be a 

dirty job; that cocoa and rubber 

plantations in the South-West 

Nigeria may have even be rhetoric 

as it is today; that yams, rice, 

pumpkins among others always 

found in Benue, Abakaliki, Rivers 

and Calabar may not have been 

stories today, but all could well be 

blamed on lack of citizenship 

diplomacy and moribund 

officialdom. The youths who are 

supposed to market all these farm 

products then are otherwise caught 

up in frivolities and lost in chase of 

ego, get rich quick syndrome and 

other meaningless things owing to 

poor guidance and direction.   

 

(v) Environmental Initiatives 

This is the idea of every citizen 

being involved in solving 

environmental problems like 

ecological hazard, erosion control, 

promote the building of dam, 

quality water cleanup, nuclear 

cleanup and avoiding land 

distortion and exertions, planting 

tree to preserve environmental 

degradation. Citizen diplomacy 

makes it easier for everyone to be 

involved in protecting the 

environment. Being 

environmental-earth friendly 

(Davis, 1999). Groups, volunteers, 

organisation and individual are 

involved. 

 

(vi) Economic Development 

Programmes 

This involves organizing a 

business training programme for 

young people. Granting 

empowerment loan to graduate and 

trained business aspirants who will 

in turn employ others to reduce 

unemployment. The U – win 

programme in the transformation 

agenda could serve but it is not 

open enough to accommodate the 

aspirations of the jobless youths. 

Private funds and financial 

contribution from government and 

individual are made available to 

train, fund and sponsor or grant 

small loans to the candidates to 

start something that in the long - 

run, will boost the state economy. 

 

(vii) Productivity Enhancement 

Programmes 

This could be a process of 

involving the citizen diplomacy in 

renovating, experimenting and 

evolving policies of old that 

promote productivity. In this 



 

 

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respect, volunteers are absorbed, 

trained, sent out to teach and train 

others in order to enhance 

efficiency and productivity. 

Experts on a particular field are 

brought to lecture, inform and 

encourage others with weak ability 

or lives in fear to succeed. 

 

(viii) Citizen Initiative Centre Smaller 

Programmes 

According to Tennison (2008), 

individual are encouraged to take 

up self-employed schemes, small 

medium enterprises (SME), micro-

enterprises businesses and a non-

profit management initiative 

among others, so as to contribute 

to the economic posterity of the 

nation. In the same process, 

computer training and business 

centre for call and receive are 

established. 

 

In view of the above stated 

contents and brief highlights of 

how such programes can be 

applied or made to work, the 

citizen diplomat in their states of 

host or at home are expected to be 

seen doing something unique to 

project the states’ interests, even 

when the contents are not 

standardized. It is also imperative 

to accentuate according to Nye 

(2010) that it is the inability of 

those who initiated such 

programmes, coupled with poor 

information delivery and possible 

failure in influencing the citizen 

diplomats could well be one of the 

causes and weak acceptance of the 

policies. He was also of the view 

that for a citizen diplomacy to 

work in sustaining the system 

internationally, that the 

recruitment of private citizen with 

soft sell of ideas and intentions are 

better accepted rather than hard 

sell that goes with threat, 

intimidation, attacks and 

blackmail. 

 

Complementing the facts of the above 

notions, Skidmore (2011), notes that 

most organizations or agencies that 

involves in citizen diplomacy are private 

non-profit organisation (NGOs), 

institutions that sponsored, civil society 

groups among others, who should not in 

any way be neglected. In the same 

continuum, Nye (2010) argued that in 

the current epoch, where public 

diplomacy has done more by publics, 

that both democratic and autocratic 

government has find themselves caught 

on different sides of a Clift stick, 

because citizen diplomacy is 

increasingly important, but far from easy 

in global information age, where 

decentralization and diminished control 

may be central to the creation of soft 

power. 

 

With the existence of this kind of refined 

citizen diplomacy working in the 

civilized society to enhance the foreign 

policy of their states, could this also 

happened in the developing society, like 

Nigeria and many others states, where 

many are still grappling with the 

endemic menace of corruption, where 



 

 

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poverty, misplaced priorities and bad 

leadership thrives? To examining that, 

the next section where the former in the 

present dispensation is engendering a 

transformation agenda programme shall 

be vividly discussed with comparism on 

whether there is anything like citizen 

diplomacy, and if it does exist, is the 

kind of citizen diplomacy masses driven, 

since it is very clear that this is not the 

first time such elusive programmes or 

policies are being introduced to the 

people without any success attached to 

it. 

 

CITIZEN DIPLOMACY AND 

STATE TRANSFORMATION 

AGENDA: THE NIGERIA 

EXPERIENCE EVALUATED. 

In the present statecrafts, apart from 

deviating from the past stereotyped and 

conservative system of interrelations 

among men, has gradually come to see 

and accept the involvement of everyone 

in the international governance of the 

state away from the officialdom of 

international relations and foreign policy 

processes and procedures. Hence, 

citizen diplomacy is now a powerful tool 

in defining one’s own nation to the rest 

of the world. To which, Gottermoeller 

(2014), notes that citizen diplomacy has 

the potential to create a group of 

individual relationships to maintain 

goodwill when formal diplomacy 

undergoes disruptions. This is because, 

it is a kind of people-to-people 

interaction that was almost impossible in 

the past due to huge distance, but, which 

had till this day become the world’s best 

and most available means of 

interrelations. Much so, the rise in 

internet system and the subsequent 

collapse of distance that had instead 

increased travel in international stage, 

initiate an effective communication and 

influence one another greatly to become 

very important useful tool. 

 

A fact, Nye (2010), confessed by saying 

that citizen diplomacy is the best way for 

a country to sell its story to a foreign 

country; the selling of a positive image 

of a country is often best accomplished 

by private citizens. 

 

The above contentions when considered 

in respect of Nigeria, tends to make one 

to be troubled as to whether the 

presupposed giant of Africa has actually 

explored this new platform in boosting 

her diplomatic relations with the outside 

world. However, record had shown that 

Nigeria adopted the concept of citizen 

diplomacy in 2007, but in a wrong 

footing as Adejumo (2011) reiterated 

from the stands point of the then 

Minister of Foreign Affairs – Chief Ojo 

Maduekwe, who posits that citizen 

diplomacy in Nigeria is construed from 

a different angle of understanding; 

simply because Nigerian foreign policy 

still focuses on the Nigeria citizen at 

home and abroad. The Foreign Minister 

further argued that Nigeria is not shifting 

away from the traditional approach to 

foreign relations, but that they will focus 

more on the citizen. Meaning that the 

kind of citizen diplomacy in Nigeria is a 

mechanism meant to protect the image 

and integrity of the country and reacts 

against nations that are hostile and 



 

 

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nation who had labeled the country as a 

corrupt state. 

 

Complementing the critic against the 

Minister’s policy statement, Nwozor 

(2012) noted that since the idea was 

mooted in 2007, that there does not seem 

to be any structure on the ground for its 

logical pursuit, depicting the Achilles 

heel of Nigeria’s foreign policy – 

making that is covered with lack of 

continuity and extreme personalization 

of its processes. 

 

However, in counting the faults in the 

Nigerian foreign policy of yester-years 

that had focused on Afro-centric 

philosophy, to which Idumange (2010) 

faulted as failed leadership inability to 

define her national interest and the 

nation sudden loss of its competitive 

edge in African diplomacy; coupled with 

the shallow view of the Minister’s policy 

statement, Okeke and Aniche (2014) 

admits that the initiators of the 

contradictory citizen diplomacy in 2007 

failed or ignored the interface between 

domestic politics and international 

politics and erroneously thought that the 

two can be separated from each other. 

They however, placed the shortfall on 

the intense class struggle for power and 

the long years of military rule and its 

militarization, which everything was 

marginalized including the citizen 

welfare at home let along abroad where 

citizen diplomacy was at zero level. 

 

Premised on this identified hiccups in 

engendering sound citizen diplomacy in 

Nigeria vis-à-vis the enumerated 

contents and possible workability guides 

of the contents, the present regime under 

President Goodluck Jonathan did 

launched a transformation agenda, 

meant to tackle not only the floors in the 

Nigerian foreign policy among others 

but also to cover all facets of the 

Nigerian economy and the state politics. 

The study, mindful of the intrigues in 

state governance, however, examines 

the transformation agenda, the 

experience so far, and the place of 

citizen diplomacy vis-à-vis Nigerian 

foreign relations. 

 

To elucidate on this, the following 

questions may act as a poser and guide: 

What are the responsibilities and 

possible failures on duties of the 

previous regimes? Why are Nigerians 

looked at with great suspicion 

everywhere even in the present 

dispensation? What are the basic factors 

that informed the present government to 

seek for the transformation of the 

society? What are the possible solutions 

acting as a linkage toward promoting the 

country’s images? How strong is citizen 

diplomacy under the transformation 

agenda guidelines? And how have the 

government efforts been towards 

confronting the failed value of the 

country outside her domain? 

 

In accepting to put on course the 

transformation agenda programmes, the 

government admitted that there were 

challenges facing the nation and from 

which are expected solutions and 

achievement by making use of human 

and natural resources to reducing 



 

 

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poverty, creating wealth, employment 

generation, value re-orientation, 

economic transformation, 

telecommunication reform, agricultural 

rejuvenation and improvement of 

security generally among others. The 

baseline was to increasing investment 

opportunities and accelerate network 

development that could thereby, 

positively impacting greatly on the 

national economic development of the 

country. 

 

It also sought to developing effective 

public and private sector partnership, 

especially towards designing and 

implementing economic reform 

programmes and to give effect to 

specific goals of the vision 20:2020. The 

government intentions under the 

transformation agenda was also to be a 

key player in the world economy; the 

largest and strongest economy in 

African; to achieve a great height in 

reforming government institutions; 

growing private sectors initiatives and 

improving social development (ALTON, 

2009) among others. 

 

Specifically, the transformation agenda 

did not spell out any major intention 

toward foreign relations (citizen 

diplomacy), even when the notion of 

battered image abroad still hunt the 

citizens outside the shore of Nigeria. The 

only area one could commend the 

government is in the area of maintaining 

the existence of Technical Aid Corp 

(TAC), that are narrow in scope and the 

Amnesty Training Programmes of the 

Niger-Delta militants, thereby 

suggesting that the regime is as good as 

making the mistake of other regimes 

before it. And, to which all had failed in 

their responsibilities and duties in 

projecting a sound citizen diplomacy 

outlook. The effect of TAC and 

Amnesty trained persons are not being 

felt in our foreign policy relations. 

Thereby agreeing with Idumange (2010) 

that in most countries, Nigeria is 

represented by diplomats who have no 

idea of their functional responsibility, 

hence, they cannot defend Nigeria’s 

national interest feverishly even in the 

face of brazen violations. 

 

The transformation agenda look more of 

domestic instead of being a balance 

project touching both domestic and 

international sphere. Simply, because 

most of the programmes are in the hand 

of official diplomats who may as well 

not be able to sell its details favourably 

to the outsiders, which also support the 

reaction of Oyetunde (2008), that 

unfortunately, Nigeria foreign policy 

relations is static, unprogressive and that 

it is not benevolent to most Nigerians 

outside the shore. A Nigerian citizen 

visiting the embassy for help will likely 

be given every reason possible not to 

render help in a foreign land. A Nigerian 

seeking help in a foreign land will most 

likely be left hanging… (Adaramola, 

2007). 

 

The citizen diplomacy, if any at all, in 

this respect, is very weak. The 

transformation agenda investment drive 

ought to be left in the hand of individuals 

and private citizen diplomats instead of 



 

 

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the normal officialdom, thereby re-

echoing the stand of the then Foreign 

Minister – Chief Ojo Maduekwe in 

2007, that the nation is not shifting away 

from the traditional foreign policy 

doctrine to complete citizen diplomacy 

due to reasons best known to them. 

 

The transformation agenda of the current 

government may have a purposeful 

meaning, if only the citizens are allowed 

to be involved in the drives and 

spreading of the rich culture, social 

initiatives, wealth creation of the 

government in the midst of many nations 

through citizen diplomacy, which will in 

turn, attract many other nations’ citizens, 

professionals and businessmen to 

Nigeria and vise-versa. 

 

It is evidence that lack of openness of the 

transformation agenda, sad enough, is 

one of the major problem bedeviling not 

only the programmes but also the 

Nigerian foreign relations, even after 

three years or more of its 

initiation/introduction. The effects of 

this shortfall have contributed 

immensely to the failures in redeeming 

Nigerian image abroad. The economic 

activities and wealth creation are still 

based on officialdom and coupled with 

insecurity in some part of the country, 

thereby encouraging weak investors 

friendly as no vibrant citizen diplomacy 

that ought to conscientised prospectors 

are in existence. Regrettably also, the 

only exchanges programmes known and 

are working today are those seen 

sponsored by stated governments and or 

private sectors. Most of the NGOs are 

seen by the government officials as 

enemy of the state due to lack of 

sincerity in policy initiation and 

implementation. 

 

CONCLUSION 

Citizen diplomacy being a concept that 

affirms that the individual has the right, 

even the responsibility to help shape his 

nation’s foreign policy relations toward 

sound economy, decent polity, sound 

social structure, wealth creations and 

cultural values, and or … sell its story to 

a foreign country. selling a positive 

image… (Nye, 2010). It suffices to point 

out that the establishment of the 

Nigerian Technical Aid Corp (TAC) at 

the inception of democratic dispensation 

in Nigeria was not properly streamlined 

to be the beginning of citizen diplomacy 

of the foreign affairs office, since TAC 

was a platform where educated – 

Nigerian professionals are selected and 

sent to help poor and needy countries 

with low capacity, while at the same 

time expected to project the image of the 

country first among those nations. The 

rendered services in this respect, range 

from Medical, Health Services, 

Agriculture, Academics, Artists and 

others to those that lack such initiatives, 

facilities and manpower. 

 

The transformation agenda supposedly 

to be the pivot to which every foreign 

relation (that is citizen diplomacy) 

against the narrow and dwarf scope of 

TAC, but the agendas for transformation 

was silent and to some extent, still dwell 

on the old traditions of foreign relations, 

thereby failing to make the 



 

 

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transformation a people oriented, citizen 

driven and mass friendly. The Foreign 

Affairs Ministry is completely shielded 

in a cocoon of officialdom that had been 

the major causes of the several failures. 

 

Compounding the shortfall of TAC by 

adding more to the problem on the 

ground, the Amnesty training 

programmes of the Niger-Delta militants 

that ought to act as an exchange 

programmes does not in any way suite 

the projecting of citizen diplomacy as 

most beneficiaries are not educated, not 

well informed, and mannerly uncultured 

to interacting in a high frequency with 

the host let alone interacting on citizen 

diplomacy level, since “man can only 

give what he has upstairs”. 

 

On this basis, the Foreign Affairs 

Ministry needs to open up the ideals of 

citizen diplomacy through the efforts of 

the government by equally making the 

transformation programmes a citizen 

oriented and not inclusive only to the 

members of the regime. Then, looking at 

the weakness and non-chalant attitude of 

Nigerians toward the project and citizen 

diplomacy values, the individuals, 

groups and organisation supposed to be 

conscientised on the need for everyone 

to braze up with reality. Technology had 

eluded us; the ideals of citizen 

diplomacy must not abandon us. 

 

Although, reasons may abound against 

citizen diplomacy apathy, probably due 

to the failure on the side of the 

government not being friendly outside 

the country, since these are the crops of 

citizens who would have to carry on the 

programmes on their own volition. They 

feared that the government and the 

embassies are not benevolent enough to 

be given such a treats. Much as no 

incentive, no help or whatsoever, as 

some might have even lived under 

bridges or keep on hiding from one place 

to the other for long before they could 

find their feet in the host state whereas 

the country’s embassy exists, hence, the 

best was to stay away from the mission. 

 

Conclusively, one of the noticeable 

factor that seems to be a hindrance in the 

working and establishment of true 

citizen diplomacy in Nigeria may be 

located in level of class struggle, craze 

for power and pen-chat for primitive 

accumulation and the growing insecurity 

in virtually all the regions of the country, 

to which those who have the intentions 

of coming home with the intent of going 

back with such state ideals and 

projections are scared and threatened. 

Thus, making this study to accept in 

content the views of Okeke and Aniche 

(2014), that the intense struggles for 

state power over other things including 

the citizens welfare or wellbeing that are 

marginalized both at home and abroad, 

forms the processes that hindered the 

implementation of Nigerian Foreign 

Policy thrust embedded in citizen 

diplomacy. 

 

Furthermore, the incapacitation of the 

Nigerian mission abroad, according to 

Nwozor (2012), in terms of crisis of 

funding, manpower challenges and the 

timely intervention in protecting the 



 

 

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interest of Nigerians demanding the 

expansion of the frontier of diplomacy 

politicking by harnessing the abundant 

human resources to meet the goal of its 

foreign policy are still absent. 

 

Finally, for citizen diplomacy to 

succeed, it must be backed up with the 

sincerity of purpose and approach to 

Nigeria’s entire problem at home 

(Adejumo, 2011). The establishment of 

citizen diplomacy in Nigeria is 

desirable, noteworthy and must be 

pursued. It is a policy that is inherently 

proactive, decidedly dynamic and 

conceived to achieve a goal as many 

may be asking where is the citizen in our 

foreign policy. 

 

RECOMMENDATION 

Sequel to the highlighted hiccups that 

had formed a trajectory to undermine the 

true value of citizen diplomacy for long 

in the Nigerian government and politics 

with particular reference to the current 

regime, which had adversely affected 

the foreign policy relations of the 

country, even in the midst of the ongoing 

transformation agenda programmes, this 

study mindful of the several scholarly 

assertions stands to suggest that it would 

be better if the following silent and 

delicate points are considered without 

any prejudice towards meeting up the 

very essence of government to the 

people and society. 

 

(i) The transformation agenda should 

include Citizen Diplomacy ideals 

in the Foreign Affairs Ministry as 

a central body to handle everything 

related to citizen welfare, 

wellbeing and relationship to their 

host. 

(ii) There should be the establishment 

of Citizen Diplomacy Commission 

under the Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs to coordinate all related 

matters. 

(iii) The transformation agenda should 

be operated on the people driven 

platform so as to achieve the 

required result. 

(iv) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs by 

matter of urgency should divorce 

itself from old paradigm or 

traditional processes of interacting 

and relating with her host/citizens 

and nations alike and enthrone 

citizen diplomacy. 

(v) Citizen diplomacy body under the 

transformation agenda should be 

allowed to unite all networks of 

citizens – individual, group and 

organizations. It should be allowed 

to creating global fluency and 

explore resources available to 

promoting the image and natural 

economy of the country. 

(vi) There should be a well-established 

data collection approaches in all 

the embassies. The idea of using 

social media and any other 

network should be encouraged. 

(vii) There is the need to increasing 

funding for the works of the citizen 

diplomacy for sustainability, 

especially if the transformation 

agenda must have a meaningful 

impact on the citizen with greater 

result oriented. 



 

 

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(viii) The established citizen diplomacy 

commission should be allowed to 

sponsor and develop young leaders 

for careers in public and 

international affairs and conduct 

semi-annual conferences for 

membership on current 

international issues. 

(ix) The documenting and educating of 

the people on the impact of citizen 

diplomacy programmes should be 

encouraged and carried out by 

organizations, stakeholders, and 

government so as to encourage 

other interests in engaging in such 

duty and responsibility. 

(x) The federal government should 

task the education ministry in 

collaboration with citizen 

diplomacy commission to creating 

programmes such as international 

educational council to encourage 

exchange programmes, 

 international training of teachers, 

academia and knowledge 

enhancement productivity. 

 

 

 

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