The Nigeria Awake Group (NIWAG) , has called on the Federal Government to urgently reverse its decision to take part in the proposed African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) signed by 27 African Union member states in Kigali, Rwanda, saying it as an instrument of neo-colonialism content .
Coordinator of the group, Banjo Aladesanmi, in a statement, noted that the agreement which was aimed at restricting trade barriers between the different pillars of the African Economic Community was a deliberate attempt to promoting imperialism and insecurity.
Aladesanmi urged the presidency and the manufacturing community to critically assess the economic and security implications of the agreement before the final implementation.
“On our part as stakeholders of over 70,000 members across the country, we urged President Muhammdu Buhari, Minister for Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, as well as leadership of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, (MAN) to critically assess the economic and security implications of the agreement before the final implementation.“
“At the moment, some developed nations are already constructing large plants and warehouses across neighbouring countries, where they planned to be dumping products and moving them across African nations including Nigeria.
“We want to categorically state that AfCFTA is signed African countries but to be much benefited by developed nations.
“Apart from the economic disadvantages on the Nigerian economy, AfCFTA will also promote insecurity because member nations shall have the immunity of free movement of persons and goods across Nigerians border thereby aiding and abetting insurgency.
“Our findings have revealed that the AfCFTA is another instrument introduced by developed nations of the world to the African continent in order to continue to dominate our economy conveniently.
“There is no comparative advantage that we tend to benefit from subjecting our local investors to hardship and perpetual closure of business operation.
This will cause a serious setback for our industrialists because Nigerian markets would have been flooded with goods both legal and illegal items produced sponsored by developed nations and channeled through any Africa member states for sale.
“If other African countries are bringing goods to Nigeria considering our large population, where do we take our goods to, considering their small sizes and population?”
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