Shoremekun Saheed Ololade
"...border closure by the Nigerian Government is likely to hamper the implementation of free trade movement within the region." - Moustapha Lo, ECOWAS Parliament Speaker.
That quote came from a report, I read some days back. I reckoned in my mind: "Oh? So they want us to reopen the border benefiting the other countries in the region while we lose more to smuggling which is being aided in many respects by our counterparts."
That 'blackmail' of "the closure hampering the African free trade agreement" mustn't not work with us going forward. If you check the world over, such collective agreements cause countries to practically lose sovereignty in some areas.
That means, when implementation of parts of such agreements is ongoing, their negative impacts on the citizens, markets, sectors and the economies of the said countries will have to be overlooked (or not stopped) all in the name of "not wanting to go against the collective agreement".
Every realistic leadership will question agreements when it does not bode well for their citizenry.
Besides, Nigeria's capacity in exportable goods and services to other markets on the continent is still a bit limited as of now; but our market (Nigeria) is ripe enough to be flooded by goods and services from other countries.
Ever wondered why there was great joy when Buhari signed the "African Continental Free Trade Agreement" weeks back? It's not just about the agreement "helping Africans" perse, its more about access to this "200 million market" we control.
( Nigerians must leverage on that as well.)
That "borderless subregion" thing being mouthed by ECOWAS diplomats for example is a farce. Such vision is antithetical to reality. Borders and boundaries must remain and must be kept. That is the absolute reality.
Boundaries set to the extent that when an agreement pays us, we allow it, but when it doesn't pay our citizens, we jettison it. If the agreement is skewed, we renegotiate. That's commonsense and soveringty.
For example, countries and their citizenry even in Europe (the most veritable example) today, are questioning same, working to renegotiate agreements and implimentations. Same thing in the US where Trump decided to renegotiate NAFTA, the TPP and also border access.
Sovereignty and nationalism is needed, and it is shaking the EU to its core as we speak. Its causing a massive shift towards right as we speak.
Collectively working together as a region may be good, but our individuality as nations towards protecting our own trumps the collective!
That means, when implementation of parts of such agreements is ongoing, their negative impacts on the citizens, markets, sectors and the economies of the said countries will have to be overlooked (or not stopped) all in the name of "not wanting to go against the collective agreement".
Every realistic leadership will question agreements when it does not bode well for their citizenry.
Besides, Nigeria's capacity in exportable goods and services to other markets on the continent is still a bit limited as of now; but our market (Nigeria) is ripe enough to be flooded by goods and services from other countries.
Ever wondered why there was great joy when Buhari signed the "African Continental Free Trade Agreement" weeks back? It's not just about the agreement "helping Africans" perse, its more about access to this "200 million market" we control.
( Nigerians must leverage on that as well.)
That "borderless subregion" thing being mouthed by ECOWAS diplomats for example is a farce. Such vision is antithetical to reality. Borders and boundaries must remain and must be kept. That is the absolute reality.
Boundaries set to the extent that when an agreement pays us, we allow it, but when it doesn't pay our citizens, we jettison it. If the agreement is skewed, we renegotiate. That's commonsense and soveringty.
For example, countries and their citizenry even in Europe (the most veritable example) today, are questioning same, working to renegotiate agreements and implimentations. Same thing in the US where Trump decided to renegotiate NAFTA, the TPP and also border access.
Sovereignty and nationalism is needed, and it is shaking the EU to its core as we speak. Its causing a massive shift towards right as we speak.
Collectively working together as a region may be good, but our individuality as nations towards protecting our own trumps the collective!
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