Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Idris Wase, on Wednesday defended Nigeria’s decision to close its boarders with some of its West African neighbours, urging participants to ensure their countries respect anti smuggling protocols.
Speaking at the ongoing Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament in Abuja, Wase expressed displeasure over comments by some members over closure of border by the Nigerian government, explaining that the decision was not aimed at oppressing the neighbouring countries.
Wase who also doubles as Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament said feelers from Nigeria’s neighbours since the closure of the borders, as well as the comments of MPs in the Parliament suggest sabotage in violation of the ECOWAS protocol on trade, which states that “no country will allow what it does not produce to cross its borders into another country”
“According to him, there were a lot in common between Nigeria and its neighbours. “Nigeria have a lot in common with all the countries that we share borders with; there is no difference between the person living in Jibia in Katsina and the person living along the side of Niger, is it the religion or the language they speak or the culture and tradition?
“The same thing with a person leaving in border communities of Togo, where we have Yorubas, and in Cotonou, and I want to believe that we are one member nation. My colleques, what has been dolled out to you may not be the correct perspective.
“First we have a protocol and the protocol is very clear, no country in the ECOWAS sub-region is allowed to export into another country what it does not produce, meaning, by our own actions, we want to be self sufficient, we do not want to be dumping ground, we want to encourage local production’, he submitted.
