By The9jaTREND
Former Speaker
er of the Federal House of Representatives,
Yakubu Dogara and a seasoned lawyer-politician, has offered a sobering and deeply reflective assessment of the contemporary international order and the precarious position Nigeria occupies within it.
In an interview aired on Channels Television on Sunday, February 8, 2026, Dogara addressed recent statements and actions attributed to the United States government, particularly their timing and strategic implications for Nigeria.
He revealed that the very day the U.S. position became public was the same day he was briefed at Capitol Hill that the measure had already been enacted—though he quickly clarified that it remained subject to further consultations with Nigerian authorities and was not yet final.
Dogara who was Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives from 2015–2019, expressed concern over the quality of domestic commentary on the issue, including analyses by some academics who, in his view, ought to demonstrate greater discernment.
According to him, “Now, I’ve followed discussions at home and some of them even by professors, who should actually know better… I believe that some comments are based on misjudgment or misreading of the international order.”
He described the global system as having effectively collapsed, stating plainly: “The international order right now, my brother, has collapsed.”
Dogara invoked a well-known geopolitical maxim—“you are either at the table or you are on the menu”—only to revise it in light of present realities. He observed that even those seated at the table are no longer guaranteed safety:
“And to be very frank, I don’t think even being at the table is a guarantee for you not to be on the menu… So for me, I have even had to rephrase that to say that we have run into a situation where the strongest at the table devours the rest.”
He repeated the warning with emphasis: “So we have to understand this.”
Dogara cautioned that if Nigeria fails to act decisively—taking the necessary strategic, diplomatic, and institutional steps to secure a meaningful place at the global high table—its future could be decided entirely by others. He grounded this sobering prognosis in his own accumulated observation and insight:
“Based on what I know, based on what I’ve heard, based on what I’ve seen… If care is not taken, if we don’t do the right things, if we don’t take all the steps that we need to take in order to be at the table, I can guarantee to you that Nigeria’s future may be determined without us.”
His remarks reflect a profound sense of urgency: in an era when the post-Cold War international order has fractured, power has become more predatory, and weaker states risk being reduced to mere objects of stronger actors’ decisions, Nigeria must urgently recognize its vulnerability and act with clarity and resolve to avoid being relegated to the margins—or worse, becoming prey in a world where the strong increasingly consume the rest at the table