Senator Ike Ekweremadu, speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Parliament, has rated as very low the intra-regional trade among West African nations.
He made the remark during a meeting with President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana and chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, at the state house in Accra, Ghana, on Thursday.
The ECOWAS Speaker, who doubles as the deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, emphasised that the ECOWAS Protocols on free movement should go hand-in-hand with adequate infrastructural and human capital capacity to police the borders.
Senator Ekweremadu also called on Mahama to make war against terrorism and youth unemployment the top priorities of his tenure.
According to a statement by Uche Anichukwu, his special adviser (Media), he said: “Ghana is a very important country in this sub-region. In terms of democracy, you hold the light in this sub-region and we believe that emerging as the Chairman of the ECOWAS will spread this light.
“However, our greatest challenges today are terrorism, militancy, and youth unemployment. It is our hope that addressing these challenges would be the top priorities of your tenure. We at the ECOWAS Parliament want to assure you of our solidarity and total support as you confront these challenges”.
Senator Ekweremadu has also stressed the urgent need for “a summit of heads of state and government of both the ECOWAS and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, to build better synergy and raise the capacity of our member states to combat our common enemies”
He made the call at the opening of a two-day dialogue session on the challenges of border crossing and opportunities for trade and finance for ECOWAS countries being organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies, Abuja for Members of the ECOWAS Parliament in Accra, Ghana,
Senator Ekweremadu who lamented the very low intra-regional trade among West African nations, maintained that the ECOWAS Protocols on free movement should go hand-in-hand with adequate infrastructural and human capital capacity to police the borders.
He decried the alleged unscrupulous practices of uniformed officers along the West African corridors and the proliferation of border posts and security checkpoints.
He noted that these have combined to hinder the free movement of persons and goods rather than promote regional integration and curb cross-border crimes.
He said that border posts and checkpoint between Badagary and Noe, the entry point from Ghana to Cote d’Ivoire), were estimated at about 120, while bribes allegedly collected by customs, police, gendarmerie, and other uniformed services had been put in the range of between USD3 to USD23 per 100 kilometre.
Meanwhile, President John Mahama had earlier while receiving Senator Ekweremadu and the Bureau of ECOWAS Parliament, described the year 2015 as a very critical one as five Members States, including Nigeria, would be holding general elections.
He called for concerted efforts to make them free, fair, and credible.
While commending Nigeria’s efforts at containing insecurity and terrorism in the sub-region, the Chairman of the Authority of States and Government lamented the recent bomb attack on Nyanya, Abuja, Nigeria, pledging to galvanize sub-regional resources and international support to ensure that the challenges of terrorism and insecurity became a thing of the past in West Africa.