Nigeria's President Tinubu Visits Turkey to Boost Bilateral Ties
The Spin
Pro-government narrative
President Tinubu's visit to Ankara highlights Turkey's engagement with Africa as a pragmatic alternative to Western paternalism and the extractive models associated with rivals like Russia and China. Ankara points to trade exceeding $37 billion, nearly $100 billion in completed infrastructure projects, and an expanded diplomatic footprint that frames African states as equal partners. Defense cooperation and education scholarships are presented as mutually beneficial — positioning Turkey as a collaborator rather than a former colonial power attaching political conditions.
Government-critical narrative
Tinubu's Ankara trip underscores Turkey's expanding influence across Africa, a calculated power play that exploits local vulnerabilities while cloaking neo-colonial ambitions in soft-power rhetoric. From drone sales fueling conflicts in Sudan to private military contractors operating in fragile states, Ankara has leveraged development aid and cultural programs to build dependency. Infrastructure projects, Islamist-centric institutions, and education networks function less as partnerships than as instruments of long-term influence and control.
