Nigeria has fallen 24 places down on the Global Soft Power Index which provides a comprehensive assessment of nations’ presence, reputation, and impact on the global stage.
Soft Power, according to Brand Finance, the brain behind the Index, was “a nation’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviours of various actors in the international arena through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion.”
Nigeria, which was ranked 69th last year, is now 93rd out of 121 countries according to the Index after scoring poorly on the familiarity, reputation, and influence metrics, which are major determinants of how a country is perceived.
The U.S. came ahead of 120 nations to secure the first position on the Index, scoring 74.8 out of 100 points.
UK held the second position with 67.3 points and Germany came third with 65.8 points.
With only 35.4 points, Nigeria fell to 93rd rank under the harrowing leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The nation’s reputation continues to suffer on the international stage under Mr Buhari whose two terms have been marred by banditry, high inflation, abductions for ransoms, energy crisis, terrorism and a rushed naira redesign that left many citizens struggling to spend cash despite having money in banks.
The European Union on Monday described Nigeria’s February 25 presidential elections as lacking transparency and credibility, an assessment that has further dented the nation’s already damaged reputation.
