The #TakeBackNigeria movement has faulted the Buhari administration for not being part of the African Continental Free Trade agreement (AfCFTA), an action, it noted, that would seen Nigeria taking key role in shaping the negotiations to its advantage.
Head of the movement, Omoyele Sowore said in a statement that “When African nations gathered to sign the African Continental Free Trade agreement on March 21st, 2018, Nigeria was conspicuously absent.
“Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and its largest economy and should have taken a key role in shaping the negotiations and the eventual agreement so that it would be beneficial to Nigeria’s economic and security interests.
“Instead of providing leadership, the Muhammadu Buhari government has exported its shambolic approach to governance at home to the continental stage. Just days after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved Nigeria’s participation in the agreement, the Buhari government announced it would no longer be participating because “some key stakeholders were not consulted,” Sowore stressed.
While chiding government for realising though late that it ought to have participated, the #TakeBackNigeria movement assured of its continued push for Nigeria’s leadership of the region.
“It is unconscionable that it is at this late stage in the process that the Buhari government is realizing that it ought to have engaged with stakeholders.
“Our movement believes that the economy of a nation as large as Nigeria, and decisions that impact the lives of almost 200 million people should not be taken lightly or on the whims of one man.
“The #TakeBackNigeria movement makes a firm commitment to Nigerians that we will move quickly to ensure continuing Nigerian leadership on the global stage and will join a continental free trade agreement that affirms the following principles.
- Promotes the economic well being of Nigeria’s people
- Prevents the dumping of goods into Nigeria
- Ensures a rapid and sustainable growth of the Nigerian economy
- Assures reciprocity in access to markets
- Does not compromise national security
- Is intended to strictly benefit Africans only, and not foreign powers from the East or West,” it stated.
#TakeBackNigeria movement further assured that Nigerians, from all walks of life and from across all economic segments would be carried along in our deliberations on this topic from day one.
“Their voices will not be considered at the last minute, as has become the practice of the Buhari government,” it added.
