By Eteobong Ita
How often have we seen agreements, conventions, treaties and co-operatives promise much but delivered very little? I have always maintained that development wished by others is inferior and comes at a snail’s pace if it comes at all.
What can a bureaucrat from Berlin, Brussels, Beijing, London, Paris, Tokyo or Washington say or know about the price of palm oil in Arochukwu, Abakaliki rice, cotton from Gusau, or cocoa in Sagamu?
For development to be sustainable in Africa it must begin with highly skilled and qualified Africans who know most about the continent’s coping strategies. Western-inspired international agreements do not help the developing world. Another is in the social change series.
Multi or bi-lateral agreements are not crafted out of love or a desire to do good. Beyond being the manifestations of mutual assent by two or more persons, multi or bi-lateral agreements are strategic instruments underpinned by specific ‘prevailing’ interests.
Although an agreement is an understanding between parties and should reflect the responsibilities and obligations of signatories, it is not always legally binding and may not always be enforceable. Beyond that, a convention is an agreement between states over particular matters. It is less formal than a treaty.
Kundun is a 1997 film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Melissa Mathison. It is based on the life and writings of the Dalai Lama –Tibet’s exiled political and spiritual leader. In the film the young Dalai Lama is asked, what are the causes of suffering?
Thoughtfully he observes a rat drinking water from a goblet and answers; one understands that he/she causes much of his/her own suffering needlessly. He/she looks for the reasons for this in his/her own life. To look is to have confidence in his/her own ability to end the suffering. Ultimately, because all beings desire happiness and wish to find their pure selves, the quest to find a path to peace begins.
Each day you are likely to read or view a report that a far-flung foreign government, aid agency, groups or even individuals are going to partner with Nigeria, with pledges, donations, loans or grants valued at several billion Naira to tackle one shortfall or another.
However, against the backdrop of these unending reports here are the facts. In Nigeria, if you want a steady electricity supply, buy a generator. On the roads, you are at the mercy of whatever may be out there. What about safe drinking water? No guarantees!
For decades Nigeria has signed agreements with foreign partners. The long list of agreements is enough to make you swoon. Still, Nigeria is not out of the woods.
Meanwhile, Africa continues to face a litany of development challenges. Many countries are weak, with mostly basic economies at best and hardly any value added before export.
The manufacturing base i.e. electricity supply, transport, roads and communications infrastructure are under strength, along with managerial and skilled-worker capacity. Is Africa equipped to join the rest of the world and be accounted as worthwhile?
Can its nations have vibrant economies, or are they condemned to perpetual poverty, economic and political insignificance? Certainly, Africa can be turned around and compete with the best in the world, but such a move will require mettle, a change in thinking and behaviour.
Lately, clerics, rights activists and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria are deeply worried over the federal government’s decision to sign the controversial Samoa Agreement. Are the concerns of the preceding listed groups – including those of the wider public – justified?
According to one African adage, he who is bitten by a snake fears a lizard. Clearly, reactions to Nigeria as a signatory to the Samoa agreement are mixed. On 9 July 2024, the House of Representatives asked the Nigerian government to respect the public outcry against the Agreement and suspend implementation pending an investigation into the content of the agreement.
Hence, is the Samoa Agreement a trojan horse or red herring with far-reaching nefarious implications? If not, what exactly is it?
The Samoa Agreement is being presented by its author(s) as a partnership agreement serving as the new legal framework for European Union (EU) relations with 79 countries. This includes 48 African, 16 Caribbean and 15 Pacific countries – also known as the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). Around 2 billion people are covered by the agreement.
Ostensibly aimed at strengthening the capacity of the EU and the OACP states to address challenges together, the agreement covers aspects like democracy and human rights, sustainable economic growth and development, climate change, human and social development, peace and security, migration and mobility. Still, how often have we seen agreements, conventions, treaties and co-operatives promise much but delivered little?
Case studies…
From the initiative offered by the European Parliament in response to the Rio Earth Summit process, to the National Indicative Programme, World Trade negotiations, the Fourth Lomé Convention, and Regional Economic Partnership Agreements, when these schemes were brought into question talks fell apart – sending many people in developing countries down a slippery slope.
In 2006 the European Commission intended to launch the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) with a contribution of up to €80 million over 4 years, starting with €15million.
GEEREF was a €100 million global risk capital fund proposed by the European Commission to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in developing countries.
Set up in 2007 as a global public-private partnership offering new risk-sharing and co-funding options for various commercial and non-commercial investors, the scheme would support regional funds for sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific Island States, Latin America, Asia, North Africa and other European Union (EU) neighbouring countries.
European Commission’s Environment Commissioner said GEEREF underlines the Commission’s commitment to assist developing nations invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, which will bring clean, secure and affordable energy supplies to 1.6 billion people around the world who lack access to electricity.
His colleague, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid said lack of access to energy is a major obstacle for regions that already experience problems in accessing capital. The GEEREF can mobilise private investments and become a real source of development, particularly in Africa, he remarked.
In 1912, the Okomu Forest Reserve – part of the lowland rainforest ecosystem that once covered a vast area of South Western Nigeria was gazetted as a sustainably managed forest for the supply of timber.
Under the plan, the forest’s resources would not only supply the region with a valuable timber trade, but by following a strict 50-year rotational cycle of growth, logging and regeneration, ensure that the forest sustained not only itself but the dozens of communities that relied upon its industry. The planned sustainable cycle failed.
As the decades rolled by, the harvesting of forest and non-forest timber products, indiscriminate logging and the development of monoculture plantation systems replaced the original plan, giving rise to an onslaught on the natural resources of the Reserve.
Alongside, the coping strategies of the indigenous and least-empowered groups – notably women, children and the elderly in the underlying communities collapsed, giving way to suffering and untold misery. Fifty communities with an estimated population of 50,000 indigenous people were affected.
Meanwhile, the European Commission’s environment and forest financing guide had budgeted €45 million for the regeneration of ‘Tropical Forests in Developing Countries’ for the period 1997 through 1999.
This meant an annual appropriation of €15 million to be divided equally amongst African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, as well as Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean (ALAMED) countries.
However, when the Commission was approached concerning Okomu Forest Reserve and the plight of the Indigenous people in the underlying communities, the Commission responded that Nigeria’s proposal could not be included in the list of priorities developed by the Commission because of budgetary restraints.
Interestingly, the EU had begun setting up talks in an attempt to agree on a successor to the framework of the Lomé Convention – a trade and aid agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 71 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, first signed in February 1975 in Lomé, Togo.
When the Lomé Convention was brought into question, under scrutiny the talks fell apart. Its proposed successor the Regional Economic Partnership Agreement fell flat – leaving the European approach to development in ACP countries in doubt.
The ‘master’s’ voice…
Often, when new African leaders emerge they are immediately summoned to ‘world cities’ where they are wined, dined, and dictated to.
Rather than set about the business of strengthening alliances and relations with neighbouring States, with glee unsuspecting African leaders hearken to the master’s voice.
It is quite evident that aid is in fact not coming from the West to Africa, but from Africa to the West. France for example receives from Africa about $US 500 billion each year.
Former French president Jacques Chirac said a huge sum of the money in French banks comes from the exploitation of the African continent.
In 2008 he stated that without Africa, France would slide down the rank to a third world power. Ultimately, critical thinking allows for a conceivable deduction that Africa with its gold reserves and abundant natural resources should be the one summoning Western leaders.
Focus…
Whether the Samoa Agreement is a trojan horse, red herring or not, the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sovereign country.
The constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on the authorities and persons throughout the country.
The same-sex marriage (Prohibition) ACT, 2013 is abundantly clear on unnatural human tendencies. Hence, Nigerians and the leadership should not be distracted by insidious foreign or domestic intervention schemes, but focus more on urgent issues such as security challenges, economic growth and how best to lift the masses out of poverty.
Parthian shot…
Georg W. F. Hegel believed the various periods of the world’s history are manifestations of an “absolute mind” striving to realise itself in a state of perfection.
The character and actions of all individuals are determined by their own culture, preceding cultures and historical events, Hegel added.
On the other hand, Karl Marx held a view that human characters and actions are economically and socially determined by an evolutionary process led from early agrarian economics, through monarchies and feudalism, through the rise of the middle class and industrialism, to capitalism and eventually to socialism.
Should we reject Hegel’s comment about an “absolute mind” striving to realise itself in a state of perfection, his remark that the character and actions of all individuals are determined by their own culture, preceding cultures and historical events is incisive.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Ita is an independent journalist and environment consultant.