President Nana Akufo Addo given an award by the National Defence College
President Akufo-Addo has taken the government of Nigeria to task, asking it to show leadership in Africa’s quest to break the jinx of poverty.
For a continent that has made the choice of pursuing integration, he noted, “We have not done much as we should have in liberalising and promoting trade amongst member countries.”
President Akufo-Addo made this call when he delivered the keynote address at the graduation ceremony of Course 25 participants of Nigeria’s National Defence College, in Abuja, Nigeria.
He expressed the belief that West Africa in particular and Africa as a whole cannot make the bold changes they need to make without visionary political leaderships and therefore, stressed the need for a “leadership that is focused on the region and continent, and not on individual countries.”
That, he said, is because “The European Union took off because the political leaderships of France and Germany decided to make it work. Once the political will is evident, we can then work together to make out of ECOWAS and the AU true regional and continental markets.”
Conviction
President Akufo-Addo was of the view that Nigeria must provide the political leadership and passion to translate the ECOWAS and AU dreams into reality.
“You have the numbers, you have the economic muscle and, dare I say it, you owe it to the region and the continent,” he said.
He indicated, “I have made it clear on several occasions, and in the countries I have visited so far in the region and on the continent, that I am willing to do whatever I can to strengthen the ECOWAS and AU communities.”
For him, “It is extremely important for the welfare of the 1.2 billion people on the continent that we, the leaders, demonstrate strong political will to make the project of integration at the regional and continental levels, …….and make them realities in the lives of our peoples.”
President Akufo-Addo stressed that if Ghana and Nigeria consider the benefits of the full implementation of ECOWAS and AU Treaties on trade, free movement of goods and persons, Customs, taxation, statistics, money and payments, then the two countries will both benefit in far better ways.
“It surely makes more sense for Nigeria to import its salt from Ghana than from Brazil. When we think of Africa before our own countries, we are not just being pan-Africanists; we are being true nationalists because what makes Africa better will make each of our countries better and more prosperous,” he said.
The EU Example
President Akufo-Addo noted that nearly seven decades ago, on 9th May, 1950, a few nations of Europe, in response to a proposal from French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, embarked on a new journey.
“When he made the proposal that has today led to the European Union, the European continent was just five years removed from the Second World War – a war that had broken the back of Europe and spilled the blood of so many, including some of our own,” he observed.
Today however, he noted that the European Union has a market of 508 million people or 7.3% of the world population — the world’s third largest population after China and India – one currency, free movement of goods, services and people across 27 countries, albeit with Great Britain having voted to exit the Union, and beginning the processes for BREXIT.
“The EU in 2016 generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of 16.5 trillion US dollars, constituting approximately 23% of nominal global GDP, which is the second largest economy by GDP in the world. The single currency, the EURO, has increased efficiency, lowered the cost of doing business and improved transparency in pricing. The overall effect has been to make Europe a much stronger economic and political player on the world stage,” he underscored.
President Akufo-Addo was accompanied to the graduation ceremony by the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul; Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Major General Obed Boamah Akwa; National Security Coordinator, Joshua Kyeremeh and some other senior military officers.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent