48th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association – Africa Region Conference

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE 48TH COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION, AFRICA REGION CONFERENCE ON THE 21^ST OF OCTOBER, 2017

I bring you warm greetings and felicitations from our President, Muhammadu Buhari, who would have liked to be here, but for the clash of the G-8 Summit in Turkey, which is going on even as I speak.

Nevertheless, it’s a special pleasure to be here with you today, at this 48^th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Africa Region Conference. And this is especially so, as Nigeria is honoured by the choice of Owerri, in Imo state as the venue of this important meeting. It is an additionally auspicious fact that our own RT. Hon Acho Ihim, Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, currently presides over the affairs of the association, having been elected to that position last year.

Perhaps, we should also note with pride, that our speaker of the House of Representatives, the RT Hon. Yakubu Dogara, also presides over the Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers Association by the choice of his peers across the Commonwealth. We thank the association for the unequivocal vote of confidence in these illustrious Nigerians. But for me, I also feel really favoured by the Commonwealth Association. Only 3months ago in Abuja, I had the special privilege of declaring open the meeting of speakers and presiding officers of the association. And here I am again, perhaps it might be time to consider granting me some kind of statutory or honorary member of the CPA.

The theme of this 48^th meeting; Africa’s Agenda 2063: Vision and Masterplan, presents another crucial inflection point for those of us who today have the privilege of being Africa’s political elite. The agenda 2063 spells out a vision of an Africa that is prosperous, integrated, peaceful and secure, a continent that recognizes the full potential of its human capital, and a respected player in the global stage. The subtitle of the agenda 2063 document; the Africa we want. In the simplest term, not only describes Africa’s aspiration for its future, but it also the overarching objective of this conference going by the various sub-themes for discussion.

Let me say that the Africa we want; is an Africa that works for its people. One that ensures that Africans can enjoy decent standards of living, security and freedom, and one where women and men have equal access and equal treatment  with respect to all economic, political and social goods. Agenda 2063 proceeds on the strength of the confidence that the 21^st century is Africa’s century. We have seen a lot of evidence in recent years of support for that fact that the 21^st century has gifted us with arguably the biggest possible shift in perception that Africa has ever experienced. A good number of the world’s fastest growing economies are in Africa. Countries once perpetually gripped by social and political unrest are confidently mastering the act of democracy. Where once we were by-words for coup d’état and civil wars, we are now grabbing the attention of the world with our technology, commerce, music, films and the entrepreneurial energy of our young people.

But while these transitions and transformations uplift us, we must also accept the sobering reality that there is a long way to go. Far too many of our people, for far too many of them, there is not a lot of reason for happiness in the present and optimism for the future. We have quite some way to go for the optimism of the agenda 2063 to reflect and enduringly in the lives of the ordinary citizens and people across the continent. The challenge for us has never been in planning, but in implementation, not in debating but in doing. Everywhere you look in our executive offices, in our legislative chambers, you will readily encounter brilliantly crafted documents, visions and initiatives; the Lagos Plan of Action, the Abuja Treaty, the Minimum Integration Programme, the Programme for Infrastructural Development in Africa (PIDA), the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme, the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), not to talk of an array of national and regional plans and programmes. What we have not been able to consistently do is to put action behind our words and visions, but time is not on our side. The countdown to Africa of our dreams has since started whether we take any radical developmental steps or not, 2063 will inevitably arrive sooner in fact, rather than later.

When it arrives, what kind of Africa will it find? In any event, if the indicators are anything to go by, we do not have the luxury of 40years or the 40years or more that 2063 implies. We are the world’s youngest continent and also its fastest-growing in terms of population. By 2050, Nigeria will be the world’s 3^rd most populous country after India and China. Add to this demographic challenge, a host of existing and emerging threats; weak educational and healthcare systems, an absence of social safety nets, climate change, the retreat of the resource-based revenues. These are the challenges that stand on our way of the realization of the agenda 2063 and they must be tackled head on and urgently. Despite the rhetoric on regional integration, African governments, since the days of the OAU and now the AU, have been late starters in concrete actions. We still have one of the lowest trade integration levels at 20 percent, while Asia is on the 40 percentile and the European integration is much farther ahead with over 60 percent. The fact remains that other regions play as a bloc, but Africa is splintered into 54, 55 different economies, and ease of doing business across the region remains a significant challenge.

There is no question that we must now expeditiously operationalize the agreements on the continental free trade area. We have launched the African passport, but we must now effect its logical implication – the free movement of persons, but even that involves practical steps. We must construct intra-continental infrastructure that will facilitate the movement of persons and goods. Integration is also bound to protect and strengthen our democracies. The continent-wide condemnation of coup d’état, all other actions that undermine democratic governance is a positive outcome and we must encourage ourselves to develop understanding and plans that have at their root the principle that attacks against democracies in any African state, is an attack against democracy in every African state.

Security will also benefit from greater collaborations, especially giving the threats of the mindless insurgent groups springing up all over the continent. The Multi-National Joint Task Force in West Africa in the Lake Chad basin region, which has proved formidable to against the threats of Boko Haram has demonstrated the power of practical collaboration where we put our resources where our mouths are.

By contrast, collaboration in maritime security is far behind. The challenge of sea piracy in the horn of Africa and the gulf of Guinea is significant. The Gulf of Guinea has recently been classified as the most dangerous sea route, which means high insurance premiums for ships coming into the region. We have made previous efforts to respond to maritime security in Africa. The Djibouti code of conduct concerning the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western India Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, this was adopted in 2009. We have the Yaoundé code of conduct concerning the repression of piracy, armed robbery against ships and illicit maritime activities in the west and central Africa that was adopted in 2013. But we must now work hard to ensure that our latest effort, the African Integrated Maritime Strategy for Seas and Ocean 2015 works. We cannot have all these initiatives and no progress is made. Again, time is not on our side and revenues are lost to our government practically every single hour.

Ladies and gentlemen, the legislative and executive arms of government have a duty to work together in other to achieve all the objectives that our nations have set for themselves. In the case of Nigeria, the two arms of government have seen the positive impact of cooperating for the good of our people. We have learned that even when we disagree on issues; it does not have to be to the detriment of our people.  Anyone who has followed our budgetary collaboration in the last 2years will readily testify to increasing mutual respect and understanding, levels of acrimony between us have been diminishing steadily. We have enjoyed the commendable support of the National Assembly in our interventions to create an enabling business environment and we are on course to see a similar level of support in our efforts to address Nigeria’s substantial infrastructure gap. We are currently working together to bring our budget circle to a January to December fiscal year by passing the 2018 budget into law before the end of 2017. I have no doubt that we will achieve this.

Your Excellencies, distinguished legislators, the power and the responsibility for rewriting the story of Africa lie in our hands. The people of our various countries have elected us to chart the course to Africa they want and they deserve. Our democracy serves no purpose if it does not advance the well being of our people, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable. Because we are elected to think, plan and act in the interest of the majority, we would be charlatans of the worst other, if our leadership does not provide for the present and secure the future. I must say that increasingly the people of our nation are getting impatient. They are getting impatient waiting for the dividend of democracy. It is our duty to ensure that we satisfy the yearnings of the millions who depend on us.

I must commend his Excellency the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha for the leadership he has shown and for the great work he is doing here, and also for his great hospitality always. And in the true spirit of African brotherhood and collaboration, Imo state as you have heard in the past 3 weeks, has hosted no less than three African centered international gatherings, including the visits of 2 or perhaps 3 African Heads of state. So as you brainstorm on the future of our continent, I urge you all to make out time to enjoy the rich, warmth, culture and cuisine of this beautiful African city of Owerri.

It is therefore on this note that I have the pleasure to formally declare the 2017 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association African Region Conference officially open.

Thank you.