Nigeria has set plan in motion to sign economic pact with a block of eight countries, as part of the efforts to promote economic partnership among African countries.
Though the names of the countries making up the block was yet to be disclosed, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama who disclosed this Tuesday while briefing newsmen on the one year of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Onyeama noted that trading among African countries have been very low.
He however said that with the initiative by the Buhari led administration, it is expected that there will be an upsurge in economic partnership in Africa.
While stressing that Africa still remains the centre peace of the country’s foreign policy, the minister however regretted that it is a paradox that as a Nigerian, one cannot go to an African country without a visa unlike what is obtainable in West Europe.
To address this he said, ” What we are trying to do at the ministry is try to promote Visa free, free movement of business people, and we want to start with about eight countries, or see if they come up as a group of eight countries and at the presidential level they agreed to that, and sign up to free movement of visa free people and we believe that if we can achieve that within a year, then other countries may want to come and join and we believe this is a better way to go than institutionally ECOWAS etc, as countries take so long to ratify agreements.
“We believe we can just start off, eight countries and they agree among themselves, then others will come in.”
He also added that it will not help if the continent continues to export just raw materials to developed nations.
Mr. Onyeama also hinted that the federal Government has commenced process to appoint new sets of ambassadors for the country.
Most of the ambassadors have been recalled by the President Mohammadu Buhari administration.
Explaining the reason behind the delay, the minister said the current administration want to do a thorough job so as to ensure that very competent hands are sent out.
The minister who also spoke on the repatriation of stolen funds from Europe and America said all the processes are almost over and the monies would soon start to roll in.
The minister who also spoke on expected return of the country’s looted fund stacked in foreign banks said the government is at verge of repatriating £300 million from Jersey, Uk
Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, between England and France, an independent, English-speaking territory with a mix of British and French cultures, with a population of about 99,500.
The minister revealed that for the last minute objection raised, the fund would have been repatriated.
He said, “We are just in the process of repatriating them, sometimes very often what happens is that the people who have ownership or who claim to have ownership, they might bring up a defence.
“Like if you take the one in Jersey it is like 300 million or there about pounds, now everything has been done to repatriate the money.
“It is no longer contestant and then at the last minute, an objection was raised by the people who were supposed to forfeit those funds.
“So of course the Authority in Jersey obliged as much it has obliged to go ahead and repatriated to go through certain legal procedure, because the other party would have a lawyer and there were legal issues.
“And now we have to now start going through that all over again, so that is really the challenge,” he said.
He further assured that the process has been engaged, there is no going back and there will be no relenting.
He also said that the process of repatriation of looted funds stacked in other countries like Switzerland and U.S. was in progress.
“ It is something that takes time repatriating of stolen fund because very often you have to have an idea you have to work on lead.
“And Very often it is real amaze it is just the way people use other people fund,” he said.
He stressed that the repatriation of all other fund was in progress but has to go through a lot of process
Why expressing concern over frustration that set in the process of repatriation the minister said that such act makes it difficult to get the money back
“That is why the anti-corruption Summit and the initiative of Mr President is really focusing on these Western countries to remove the barriers, some of those lengthy procedure that exist that make it possible for some of these people to delay and delay.
“That is what we are looking at, they are coming on board some of these Western countries more and more,
“We just have to look at mechanism to make it a bit easier to make it more or less clear, that the stolen funds require us providing all the evidence it is never easy,” he said.
