By Alkasim Abdulkadir
On August 25, 2025, Nigeria and Brazil signed five landmark Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in Brasília, covering aviation, foreign affairs, science and technology, and the Bank of Agriculture. The ceremony, witnessed by Presidents Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, symbolised a reset of bilateral ties. For most observers, the moment was defined by presidential statements -President Bola Ahmed Tinubu urging Petrobras to return to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, Lula endorsing Nigeria’s G20 bid and its push for a permanent UN Security Council seat. Yet behind the symbolism lay months of careful diplomacy, driven by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar.
Amb. Tuggar has been quietly but deliberately working to reposition Nigeria’s foreign policy under the “4Ds” framework—Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora. For him, the MoUs with Brazil were not routine agreements but a test case of how diplomacy can be harnessed to deliver concrete development outcomes. His efforts have ensured that what might once have remained lofty aspirations are now anchored in actionable partnerships.
For nearly a decade, Nigeria–Brazil relations stagnated. Despite shared histories, both as multi-ethnic democracies and continental powers in the Global South, cooperation slowed, projects stalled, and opportunities slipped away. Amb. Tuggar recognised early that rekindling this partnership required more than ceremonial visits. He reactivated the Nigeria–Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism, which had lain dormant, revived technical committees, and aligned bureaucratic processes to ensure agreements would be ready by the time Tinubu met Lula da Silva in Brasília.
The Bank of Agriculture MoU exemplifies this practical approach. By linking Nigeria’s agricultural blueprint with Brazil’s world-renowned agribusiness model, Tuggar has opened pathways for food security and rural empowerment. Brazil’s success in transforming vast land resources into global food supply chains offers lessons Nigeria urgently needs. Similarly, the science and technology pact is not about rhetoric but about securing access to Brazil’s expertise in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy. Tuggar pushed for this, mindful of Nigeria’s ambition to lead Africa’s technological renewal.
The aviation MoU may prove just as transformative. Lula hailed the planned Lagos–São Paulo direct flight as a “cultural renaissance.” But it is Tuggar’s insistence that air connectivity is the lifeblood of economic diplomacy that gave this idea momentum. Direct links between Africa and South America will expand trade, tourism, and investment flows while reinforcing Nigeria’s leadership role in Afro-Brazilian cultural exchanges.
President Lula’s strong endorsement of Nigeria’s G20 bid and support for UN Security Council reform was not coincidental. These pledges are the result of steady lobbying and confidence-building under Tuggar’s watch. In 2025 alone, Nigeria has secured BRICS Partner Country status and deepened its role in ECOWAS and the AU. The Brazil MoUs, therefore, are part of a wider strategy to consolidate Nigeria’s global standing as the voice of Africa in emerging power platforms.
Critics may argue that MoUs are not binding and risk gathering dust. But Tuggar understands that in diplomacy, symbolism precedes substance. Agreements create the political momentum upon which implementation rests. By ensuring that Nigeria and Brazil are once again aligned, he has built the scaffolding for deeper cooperation in trade, energy, and culture. The challenge ahead will be follow-through, but Nigeria now has a framework robust enough to yield results.
Tuggar’s quiet, methodical diplomacy has affirmed an old truth of statecraft: breakthroughs on the global stage are rarely sudden they are painstakingly prepared, brick by brick, by those who understand that diplomacy is as much about due diligence, persistence as it is about grand and impactful gestures.
Alkasim Abdulkadir is the Special Assistant on Media and communications strategy to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Amb Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (OON).