Docking Diplomacy: China’S Soft Power And The Geopolitics Of The Lekki Deep Seaport

Abstract

The paper investigates the strategic role of China’s investment in Nigeria's Lekki Deep Seaport as a tool for soft power and geopolitical influence in West Africa. Framing the port within the general Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Africa's infrastructural map, the study propounds that the Lekki Deep Seaport acts not only as an essential economic asset but also as a symbol of shifting world power relations. The paper uses an economic-benefit approach coupled with regional competition in maritime, debt, and state capacity perspectives to foreground the complex interactions between development opportunities and attendant sovereignty issues. It argues that, while the port presents a window for Nigeria's national economic diversification pathway and a test-bed for regional leadership, it also exposes the country to dangers related to debt-dependent governance and strategic manipulation by foreign agents. The study closes by recommending policies geared toward institution-building in Nigeria, transparent debt management, and regional consensus-building. In unpacking the multidimensional ramifications of docking diplomacy, this study offers one avenue toward a more nuanced understanding of China-Africa relations and the geopolitics of maritime infrastructure in the twenty-first century.