Tuggar: Ease of travel within West Africa boosting regional economic growth

Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, says the freedom of movement within West Africa has contributed to economic growth in the region.

Speaking at the European Union-African Union ministerial follow-up committee and third EU-AU ministerial meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Tuggar said collective action and partnership in addressing global challenges were important.

“We see the huge opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area,” the minister said.

“Within the Economic Community of West African States, freedom of movement has contributed to economic growth and individual opportunity and provided an alternative for young people that might otherwise consider the desperate trek north.”

Tuggar said while progress has been made in tackling complex challenges, much work remains to be done.

“The checklist is real, serious, and familiar: the proliferation of small weapons; climate change; violent extremism, irregular migration; the fragility of democracy; technology, trade, and markets,” he said.

The minister expressed concern over the fragility of the international order, saying non-state actors, unregulated information flows, and disinformation played a role.

He said Nigeria is committed to multilateral agencies and collective action despite the challenges.

Speaking on the crisis of democracy, Tuggar noted that it is a global issue that is not limited to Africa alone.

“Governments have faced the challenge of matching limited capacity with increased expectation, a process that crowds out serious debate and empowers political snake oil salesmen,” he said.

“It’s a trend we see in other parts of the world, too.”

He warned against allowing fears to drive policy, particularly on migration.

He said there was a need for responsible regulation and genuine partnership in addressing global challenges.

“We cannot allow our responsibilities to be diluted by our rights. The truth is not a supermarket, to be picked or discarded according to taste. There are no facts and alternative facts, only facts,” he said.

“Our job, responsibly, is to regulate it and create a stable framework for genuine partnership, which in turn allows us to deal with those systems of fracture that, today or tomorrow, become everyone’s problems—or, as I prefer, everyone’s opportunities.”