Following the renouncement of ECOWAS membership by the three junta ruled countries of the west Africa, the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has revealed that there’s no compulsion in being a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Tuggar made this statement suggesting to the three Sahelian states of Burkina Faso Mali, and Niger that ditched their membership of ECOWAS late January citing uncertainties with the regional bloc.
He explained that it is up to the regimes of the affected countries to make their decision as sovereign nations as “ECOWAS is just a union of a community of people and the emphasis is on the community, on the people, on the citizens.”
Tuggar was speaking on a sideline when he granted interview to Qatar broadcaster – Al Jazeera in Doha.
The Minister was in Qatar as part of a delegation led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As Nigeria and Qatar signed a series of memorandums of understanding, MOU, and extensively discussed potential collaboration in sectors such as energy, trade, labour, agriculture and more.
The Foreign Affairs Minister was asked if there was a need to reinvent ECOWAS when the trio dumped their membership.
Responding, Tuggar said, “No, there isn’t. There’s a process [for leaving] and it takes about a year. It’s one thing to pronounce that you’ve left; it’s another to really disengage from ECOWAS itself because every citizen of ECOWAS carries a passport. (An ECOWAS passport guarantees visa-free travel within the bloc).
Explaining further he said, “We’re waiting to see if they’re even going to print the passports which are going to cost millions of dollars.
“We’re talking about 30 per cent of, let’s say, Cote d’Ivoire, coming from Burkina Faso, and Mali, which means they would need new residencies or they will have to leave Cote d’Ivoire and the same thing with Nigeriens in Nigeria, in several other places.
“So, it’s not as simple as it’s made out to be. The process of them leaving takes a lot more than just a simple pronouncement and there are certain procedures that have to be followed.”
The minister made it clear that ECOWAS had no personal problem with the junta leaders as the sanctions that were removed out of humanitarian consideration.
He said, “Fasting during Ramadan is coming up, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the Chairman of ECOWAS, heads of state and government pushed for the removal of sanctions. The ECOWAS leaders endorsed it and the sanctions have been removed, borders have been opened.”
