📖 ABSTRACT/OVERVIEW
France and Nigeria have maintained a complex diplomatic relationship shaped by competing interests in West African francophone geopolitics, ECOWAS institutional power, and bilateral commercial engagement, yet the role of language competence as a variable in the quality and outcomes of Nigeria-France diplomatic relations has never been systematically investigated. This study analyses the role of French language competence in shaping Nigeria-France diplomatic relations across two periods: the postcolonial consolidation period (1960-1999) and the contemporary multipolar period (2000-2024). An interdisciplinary historical and contemporary analysis design combines archival research in declassified diplomatic correspondence from the Nigerian National Archives, Ibadan, and secondary sources on French foreign policy, with analysis of contemporary diplomatic interaction patterns through interviews with 28 senior Nigerian and French diplomatic personnel and textual analysis of bilateral treaty documents and joint communiques. Historical analysis reveals that Nigerian diplomatic dependency on interpreters in high-level France-Nigeria bilateral engagements has persisted through multiple administrations, with documented instances where interpreter limitations affected negotiation outcomes on ECOWAS peacekeeping mandates and bilateral oil and gas agreements. Contemporary analysis documents growing French frustration with communication asymmetries in bilateral technical working groups. The study develops a language capability theory of diplomatic relations and argues that French language competence constitutes a form of soft power in West African geopolitics whose strategic value Nigeria has systematically underinvested in. Recommendations address language competency as a national diplomatic asset in the foreign policy review framework. Keywords: Nigeria-France relations, diplomatic language, French competence, soft power, diplomatic history
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