There is no doubt that the role of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a body established to promote economic cooperation among members states for the purpose of raising the living standards and economic development within the region is a tough one.
Ordinarily, the job is supposed to be a smooth ride for the Nigerian leader in view of his record as a grassroots politician blessed with the gift of being able to break all barriers to achieve his aim.
After his emergence in Guinea-Bissau as the ECOWAS Chairman, President Tinubu called for a collective action from member states while he pledged that under his chairmanship, frameworks would be harmonised to actualise the dreams of ECOWAS.
While speaking in Kenya at the African Union leader’s meeting, Tinubu equally charged the African leaders to work together to harness the vast resources within the continent to better the respective African countries.
Obviously, Tinubu’s remarks at the two different meetings showed his genuine interest towards the unity and connectivity of the continent just like past Nigerian leaders who had occupied that position.
Unfortunately, the past experiences only pointed to the fact that only Nigeria and may be one or two other African countries are sincere in promoting the aims and objectives of the ECOWAS and that of the AU, as most of these African leaders have been the ones dragging back the fortunes and progress of the continent owing to the retrogressive games they play with each other which sadly remain the bane of the continent.
It is on record that most of the policies adopted and signed by the African leaders to promote trade and ease connectivity through seamless air transportation on the continent are merely on papers as many of the African countries with the exception of Nigeria and few others continue to frustrate the policies due to unnecessary individualism.
On the ACFTA policy that Tinubu touched on in his remarks at the AU meeting in Kenya, as good as this flagship project of the AU 2063 agenda is meant to be for creating a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of business persons and investments and one currency, majority of these African leaders have chosen to play their individual agenda.
Besides ACFTA, other trade policies that were signed many decades ago that would have opened up the continent but have been sadly frustrated included the Yamoussoukro Accord and the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM), driven by the Continental Free Trade Agreement.
These trade agreements that would have paved the way for the economic emancipation of the continent and the citizens from perpetual poverty and underdevelopment are being sacrificed on the altar of power drunkenness by the leaders as they continue to work against fellow African countries.
A typical example of the African leaders excessiveness can be seen in the manner they work against seamless air transport across the continent as they sabotage fellow African airlines from flying into their countries under the guise of protectionism and unnecessary rivalry.
Of all the African countries particularly, those in West Africa, Nigeria tops the list of the few countries promoting African integration as seen in the number of airlines operating into the country.
As the African airlines enjoy unlimited privileges in Nigeria, their home countries, on the contrary, frustrate the Nigerian airlines designated into their countries as they create bottlenecks for them all in the name of protecting their own carriers.
Air Peace, a Nigerian airline has become a victim of this hostility suffered from a fellow African country as the story is still fresh about how the government of Cote D’ivoire frustrated its attempt to commence operations into the country in contradiction to the existing air transport agreement between the two countries.
Unfortunately, while the countries continue in their game, Nigeria has remained resolved to continue to play the big brother role which many of them have not appreciated.
It is therefore, based on these experiences that President Tinubu should not be too much in a hurry to trust the fellow African leaders when it comes to the issue of signing any trade agreements because of their notoriety for backtracking even when such policies will on the long run be for the integration of the continent.
Other countries from the continent that take joy in displaying total hostility towards Nigeria include, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and Togo at the slightest opportunity even when their own citizens and businesses thrive here.
President Tinubu should draw the attention of the African leaders to the shenanigans they are perpetrating which are to the detriment of the continent, and until they drop this toga of individualism , Nigeria under the Tinubu government should not rush to sacrifice itself for those who will end up betraying it under the guise of a fake big brother.
