The Dynamic Nature of the Nigeria-Malaysia Socio-Cultural Relation

Ever since the relations between Nigeria and Malaysia which has been growing from one level to the other. Hence, one can say the relationship between the two nations can be traced as far back of 1965 that was initiated by these two great pioneers and visionary leaders –Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria and Tunku Abdulrahman of Malaysia. Nevertheless, the initial relationship was based on trade relations that involve the volumes of trade that flows between the two countries. Recent studies have diverted it`s attention from the economic aspects but looking at the socio-cultural aspect due to the Global trends seeing the world as a global village where everyone connect to make the society a better place. However, there are limited studies on the socio-cultural ties between Nigeria and the South East Asian region in general and Nigeria-Malaysia in particular in order to push for the bilateral relations between the countries. The study tends to investigate the trending changes of the Nigeria Malaysia socio-cultural relations on the concerned sectors (Education, Sports & Religion) have move from stage to the other. The methodology used is secondary source of data collection where several literatures that pertains to the subject matter were used to build the work. The work is divided into two (2) broad categories that entail the historical account of Nigeria-Malaysia relations on how the journey began and the socio-cultural ties between Nigeria and Malaysia. The study concludes on the facts that the socio-cultural ties have been a binding factor between Nigeria and Malaysia which has really brought the nation to a greater height. Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement on the following areas: on education-The Nigeria students need to utilize the Malaysia educational sector in a positive way to the fullest on sports, Malaysia can still take advantage of the Nigerians raw talent to build her sports industry to the fullest, and while on the area of religion both nations can still learn from each other based on the spirit of religion tolerance as a uniting factor among people of various faiths.