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.”