The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, has tackled members of the Economic Community of West Africa States’ Parliament, asking them to tell their countries to obey international border laws.
Wase said this in response to the criticisms by members of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja on Wednesday over the closure of Nigeria’s land borders.
A statement later issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Puma, quoted him as expressing his displeasure with the criticisms from his colleagues in the regional parliament.
Wase, who is Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, said feelers from Nigeria’s neighbours since the closure of the borders as well as the comments by members of the parliament, suggest sabotage in violation of the ECOWAS Protocol on trade, which he quoted as saying, “No country will allow what it does not produce to cross its borders into another country.”
The Deputy Speaker noted the socio-cultural similarities between Nigeria and its neighbours, saying that all the countries within the sub-region are one and should be each others’ brother’s keepers.
Wase said, “First we have a protocol and the protocol is very clear: no country in the ECOWAS sub-region is allowed to export into another country what it does not produce, meaning, by our own actions, we want to be self-sufficient; we do not want to be a dumping ground, we want to encourage local production.
“We cannot sustain this any longer at this time, a situation where the so-called super powers of the world will produce, have it for a very long period of time, after a while, they use other African countries as conduits to take these things to our country.
“This is not acceptable to Nigeria and I believe that as good citizens and MPs, we should encourage our people to become productive. The population we have in this country should not just be a number by size, but a number that can be helpful to the nations of Africa and to the world.”
Wase added, “Mr Speaker, my respected colleagues, I want to beg of you to bring understanding to this matter. Nigeria has paid its dues and it is still paying its dues. We have always been there for our neighbours in times of need. And I’m saddened by the comments of some of our colleagues here. We have been helping in virtually every country in Africa, even by the contributions.
“You can’t compare the contribution of Nigeria with any other country. I think the reason why we are lagging has to do with our budgetary system, which we are now battling to change the narrative regarding the cycle, from the period of undetermined time to January-to-December. And the presenter did mention why the contribution was not paid.”
