Former President Olusegun
Obasanjo has urged the Federal Government to sign the African Continental Free
Trade Area (ACFT) agreement.
Obasanjo made the call at the
ongoing 2019 Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on Thursday in Moscow
Russia.
He said Nigeria had no
justifiable reason for not signing the agreement as countries like Eritrea,
Niger and even Benin that were our neighbors had signed.
“I don’t think there is any
confusion. I was talking to somebody in government in Nigeria not long ago, he
said we would be like a sleeping giant and when a sleeping giant wakes up he
will surprise everybody.
“I believe we have enjoyed the
time of delay but of course we have no choice than to sign it.
“I do hope that sincerely before
the formal inauguration in Niamey on July 7 and 8, that Nigeria will not be
absent at the launching because I see no reason why Nigeria can be present when
it has not signed the agreement.
“If you heard the statement of
Nigeria’s Permanent Secretary, you have nothing in a statement more beautiful
than that, but he is not a policy maker, he is a policy executor.
“Now, he will go home and tell
the policy makers that he has made the right statement and its now right for
action. I hope after he says that, they will follow through,” he said.
According to Obasanjo, Nigeria
supposedly did the AFCTA negotiation from Egypt with a Nigerian minister
actually leading the negotiation.
He said unfortunately while that
negotiation was going on, the type of consultation that should have gone on
with trade unions, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Chambers of
Commerce and civil society did not go on.
“Government is only a facilitator
but the people who will really make it work are the private sector operators
but they are not carried along.”
“ When Nigeria came back, the
cabinet endorsed it but when it was presented to the private sector, they were
asking what it was all about.
“The other day I was in Addis
Ababa on this same issue, the trade unions, MAN and chambers of commerce were
there and they all said they are now fully informed and now fully onboard.
“It is now left for government to
do the needful by signing the agreement,” he said.
On corruption, Obasanjo said it
was not defined only on when money, goods and services were involved.
While listing nepotism, condoning
what is bad and lack of fiscal disciplines as a form of corruption, he said
corruption and development were not compatible, therefore corruption should be
eschewed to ensure development made significant progress.
The former president urged that
corruption should be consistently fought, adding “it must not be a matter of do
it today and leave tomorrow, It must not be a matter where you have sacred
cows, but comprehensive and all-inclusive.’’
Meanwhile, Mr Gabriel Aduda, the
Permanent Secretary, Politics and Economic Affairs, Office of the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation, said the country would soon sign the AFCTA.
According to him if we do not
work hard to ensure that a few protective steps are put in place, what we will
likely end up with is a dumping ground which is what we do not want.
“With time, Nigeria is going to
sign, we have to do like what China did even with the World trade agreement –
they gave a condition and that is what we are going to do and you have to look
at the size of your market.
“You do not expect a country like
Nigeria to be given the same size of cake with a country like the Gambia even
though we are all in Africa, it doesn’t work like that because Gambia is just
like a local government in Nigeria.
“We need to understand how these
things work and we should also understand one thing that behind all these trade
issues – the barriers, the policies, the rules and everything – are the big
players behind the masquerades- who are the former colonial masters.
“You cannot just go ahead and
enter into an agreement with neighboring nations without looking at who is
standing behind that nation; how are you going to protect yourself.
“Even though we need a free and
fair deal, but how also do we protect ourselves to ensure that we do not just
become a dumping ground.
“These are some of the issues we
are looking at the moment. Absolutely, we are coming back to the table to say
this is what we want.”
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