Commonwealth meeting in Nigeria

KWENU! Our culture, our future

Commonwealth meeting in Nigeria

MAX GBANITE

New Jersey, U.S.A.

Thursday, November 27, 2003

PREAMBLE:

As His Excellency President Olusegun Obasanjo prepares to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference (CHOGM), billed to hold in the Federal Capital City of Abuja from December 5 to 8, majority of Nigerians are highly disturbed, morally perplexed, and mentally discombobulated as to why their leaders are bent on spending the people's money in what they -- the people -- consider irresponsible spending, especially after the unaccounted billions of naira spent to host the just-concluded All Africa Games.

These hypertensive suffrages are attributable to the ineffective conviction of the masses that the conference is in Nigeria’s own interest, given that the country is still positioning itself to attract foreign investments that the President couldn’t galvanize in his over 300 trips abroad in search of same. Majority of Nigerians, especially intellectuals and the masses in general, feel that the billions of naira being wasted could have been channeled towards areas that would prove more substantive and beneficial to the people who voted the government into office.

As credible as the arguments posited by the masses are, there are equally people like the current chairman of the planning committee, Ambassador Esam and his staff, President Obasanjo and his cabinet, and this writer who feel otherwise. I do indeed support the CHOGM conference more than I did the All Africa Games. Why? Well, I will come to that later.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:

The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states formed by the United Kingdom and most of its former colonies. It was formerly known as the British Commonwealth, and it has its origins in the Imperial Conference of the late 1920s, although the conferences of British and the colonial prime ministers had occurred periodically since 1887; where the independence of the self-governing colonies was recognized, and eventually formalized in 1931 Statue of Westminster. The commonwealth was established as an association of free and equal states, and membership was based on common allegiance to the British Crown, (excerpt from Wikipedia encyclopedia).

Sir Stephen Brown, KCVO, British High Commissioner to Singapore posited that “there would not have been a Commonwealth had there been no British Empire.” He is absolutely correct and as a result there are 54 member nations that make up the Commonwealth of nations. Nigeria became a member in 1960 and was suspended in 1995-1999 due to the unacceptable leadership of the government in power then. Today, Nigeria is back in the saddle and as an act of assertiveness decided to host the conference. It is important to note that this is actually the second time that Nigeria is hosting such a conference. The first was in 1966 and, immediately after, the coup plotters of January 15, 1966 struck. As a matter of fact, it was suggested that the then Premier of Eastern Nigeria Dr. Michael Okpara was spared because he was hosting Archbishop Makarios III of Greek Orthodox Church, who had attended the conference as the then President of Cyprus.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE:

I earlier promised to state why I support the CHOGM conference holding in Nigeria but, first, let me reiterate what occurred on ‘Tuesday Night Live,’ a program hosted by Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). It was held on October 29^th 2003 and moderated by Mr. Cyril Stober. The program featured Professor Ujo, University of Abuja political science department; Dr Asemota, University of Benin International law department; Ambassador Ade Esem, Chairman of CHOGM organizing committee; and Mr. A. U. Max Gbanite, this writer. The topic centered on the relevance of hosting CHOGM.

Dr. Asemota and Professor Ujo were correct in their criticisms of the government for hosting the conference. In their assertions they vehemently opposed the rational behind hosting such a conference, and even alluded that the government was wasting the nation’s hard-to-find foreign exchange. True to their allegations, a newspaper has just printed that the foreign reserve of the country has gone down as a result of the funding of the conference and the just-concluded all Africa Games.

The learned team accused the government of diverting funds that could have been used to better the lives of the masses and implement programs that would benefit and uplift the sufferings of the poor masses under democracy. At a point the duo even referred to the membership of Commonwealth as neocolonialism of the British, Canada, and Australia against the poor member nations. Many callers to the program supported the position of the learned professors.

The Ambassador did his best to argue the positions of the academicians, and he did a good job relating the government’s position on the conference, though he refused to tell the public the amount of funds budgeted for the conference. The learned professors were very chagrined to an uncomfortable level. However, whereas my emotional side as a Nigerian tends to agree with professors' position, my business and nationalistic side disagreed entirely.

I support the CHOGM conference with the same breadth that I used in supporting ‘Vision 2010’ when it was articulated, discussed, and presented to the nation for implementation. Although, the program was shelved by President Obasanjo and replaced with ‘Economic reforms’ that are yet to benefit those for whom they were intended.

My support of CHOGM is based on a sound statistical argument presented by Sir Stephen Brown who wrote that there are 54 member-nations in CHOGM, making up 30% of the world population; its citizens number 1.7 billion people, and over half of the 1.7 billion people are under the age of 25. That’s a great business opportunity for a country like Nigeria. I see a potentially lucrative market for consumer products made in Nigeria. An excellent opportunity for tourism and these are formidable foreign exchange earners.

The government under the leadership of President Obasanjo should immediately reevaluate Nigeria’s membership in Commonwealth with the objective of influencing the new direction. Nigeria’s position must be the policy thrust and arrowhead for the concentric regions of ECOWAS, and intermediate regions of African Union through the guiding principles and policies established under the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD).

Nigeria must evolve policies that are in the interest of Nigeria first before any other country’s interest. And this policy must be carried out without apologies to anyone, and altruistically at best. No other nation in the world has contributed to international peace keeping operation like Nigeria. Nigeria must develop a national interest that will benefit Nigerians in all her dealings in Sierra Leone and Liberia. After all, Nigeria is the only nation that lost more than a battalion (over 1000) soldiers and many more unaccounted civilians in the civil wars that engulfed both countries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Nigerian Tourism Board, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industries, and Office of the Presidency must collaborate and develop a well- articulated policy that will become the anchor of our bilateral relationship with each individual member of the Commonwealth nations. If such policies are properly coordinated, our export program will take off, and the investment environment will be enhanced.

The government must also act urgently in putting NEPA in order. No nation can function on generators for long. It’s very impossible to produce consumables for these 1.7 billion people residing in 54 nations, whom I see as potential users of made-in-Nigeria goods. The security aspect of life must be taken seriously, if interested read my article on kwenu.com, titled ‘National Security Under Democracy.’ That could become a blue print to the realization of a secured border and enhancement of tourism. After all, no tourist will come to Nigeria under the current state of insecurity.

Therefore, the Nigerian Business Support Group (BSG), headed by Dr. Pascal Dozie, chairman of MTN and Diamond Bank, should in earnest excogitate ways to improve on trade, communications, banking, and governmental policies that are designed to benefit Nigerians first within the realm of membership in any organization.

Nigerians who are critical of CHOGM are not mistaken, but the time has come for them to see the potentials and great business that can be accomplished if they are productively creative enough to take advantage of the situations. Each member nation of commonwealth presents different trade opportunities; therefore government established policies must be bilaterally oriented for it to work.

Nigerian leadership must make sure that core principles established in the 1991 Harare Declaration such as the promotion of true democracy and good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and sustainable economic and social development are articulated upon with a clearer vision of doing it the Nigerian way. Due to our divergent cultural identities such programs may not suit our environment as expected by other member nations. Our policies should have these principles but clearly developed in our own way to extend added incentivization to benefit Nigerians.

The projects and programs enunciated to promote sustainable economic development, to alleviate poverty, to provide universal access to education, to combat criminal activities such as drug trafficking and money laundering, to fight communicable diseases, and to support other organizations to promote world peace and security must be adhered to, but with a special interest on what Nigeria stands to benefit. For instance, Nigeria must insist that all the monies stashed in British, Canadian, Australian, and Swiss banks and considered looted be sent back to Nigeria. Nigeria should also develop legal policy that enables her to file legal suits at the World Court against any country that facilitates the transfer of illegally gotten wealth that belongs to the government to their country and ultimately seek the repatriation.

Nigeria as nation has benefited from its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and, for those who are in doubt, kindly seek out information directly from the records of the Commonwealth. You will be amazed at the financial contributions towards different development projects made to Nigeria. The problem seems to be associated to the insincerity of those Nigerians implementing the funded projects.