PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Friday, 7th may 2004.
RESOLUTION OF THE 2-DAY SOUTH WEST ZONAL WORKSHOP FOR CIVIL
SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS ON GLOBALISATION, TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZED BY DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION NETWORK,
DEVNET, Lagos.
Participants at a two-day workshop organised by Development Information Network (DevNet)
on Globalisation, Trade and Sustainable Development sponsored by the Heinrich Boll
Foundation, Lagos held at Premier Hotel, Ibadan, Oyo State from Tuesday 4 to Wednesday, 5
May 2004 through paper presentation, discussions and workshops exhaustively examined the
following topics:
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Globalisation and Nigerian Development Process;
Understanding The World Trade Organisation and the Negotiations process;
Nigeria’s membership of the WTO and its negotiating capacity;
Nigeria’s trade commitments in the ACP-EU and NEPAD agreements;
Impact of these agreements on agriculture and food security;
Impact of international trade on women and the girl child Nigeria;
CSO engagement strategies on international trade.
Participants made the following observations:
1. The WTO like other multilateral institutions has come to stay; Nigeria has acceded to the
various agreements and therefore needs to sit up, develop plans and benefit from the
membership of the body. The WTO for example only has entry points, there are NO exit
points.
2. Nigeria’s political leaders entered into these agreements blindly. There were no clearly
articulated negotiating positions before accession. Government joined as a bandwagon
effect. Unfortunately, since, there is very little being done to effectively engage the global
trade movement.
3. The National Focal Point (that should plan Negotiating guidelines and positions) is
moribund and ineffective. There is no clear leadership and political will to support the
NFP.
4. Nigeria is has NO representation at the WTO Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. The
only Nigeria in WTO is a staff and not a representative of Nigeria. Furthermore,
Nigeria’s Geneva office and in particular WTO desk is grossly understaffed and without
the resources to facilitate adequate representation at negotiation sessions. Yet, without
effective participation at Negotiation sessions, each country has not a chance against the
onslaught of globalisation forces, especially trade, as championed by WTO rules.
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5. Nigeria’s world acclaimed capacity in international trade are hardly engaged either as
members of the National Focal Point or as consultants during preparations for
negotiations and or ministerial summits as technical back up, whereas there are daily
meetings at the WTO secretariat in Geneva and around the world.
6. Nigeria has more than enough experts on globalisation and trade related issues
7. Nigeria is not taking advantage of these experts in its participation at the WTO and other
trade negotiations.
8. Agriculture, Services and Intellectual property –main issues at WTO- are poorly funded
or developed in Nigeria.
9. Nigeria’s participation in the WTO and other regional and bilateral trade agreements
excludes civil society and other stakeholders input, particularly, farmers and small scale
businessmen.
10. The Private sector is grossly weak in articulating and supporting negotiating positions on
world trade. The private sector is dominated by Multinationals whose principals are the
main drivers and beneficiaries of WTO.
11. The urgent need for political will and plan of action to advance Nigeria’s positions in
global trade. Africa’s contribution to global trade fell from 6% in 1980 to less than 2% in
2002, with fossil fuel contributing more than 50%.
12. There is an urgent need to aggressively develop agriculture, promote competencies in
services and protect intellectual property rights (patents).
13. The National Focal Point coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Commerce does not
meet regularly to discuss trade issues in Nigeria.
14. The Nigerian media is currently lacks capacity to effectively articulate and promote
arguments on WTO issues. Irrelevant political issues dominate the media.
RESOLUTIONS:
Recognizing that Nigeria’s negotiating capacity at the WTO and other international trade
commitments needs further enhancement;
Believing that effective participation in global trade depends on effective participation at trade
negotiations promoted by WTO, ACP-EU and NEPAD agreements;
Realizing that Nigeria, ahs lost a lot both in time and financial resources and by implications
development since signing international trade agreements
Observing the seemingly lack of political will and coordination necessary for effective
engagement of the international trade system, and by extension globalisation forces;
Further observing that Nigeria has human and material resources to effectively engage the
international trade system; participants made the following resolutions:
1. The immediate establishment of a CSO National Working Group on Globalisation to put
the required drive into, as well as partner with the National Focal Point and the lead
ministry, the Ministry or government agency for effective participation in trade
negotiations.
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2. Participants call for a comprehensive overhaul of the National Focal Point, especially to
include representatives of Civil Society Organisations through the National Working
Group on Globalization.
3. Call for the National Focal Point on International Trade to ask for and include the various
inputs of CSOs in developing negotiating guidelines and positions.
4. Governments official delegations/negotiating teams must include Nigerian NGOs who in
most cases can provide much more analytical technical support to government
(Ministerial) delegations.
5. Call upon the organized private sector to take government participation at international
trade systems as a matter of very strategic importance for its own existence.
6. Further call upon the private sector to contribute to a National Pool of Funds (National
Development Fund) to support the National Focal Point on International Trade and
participation at trade negotiations.
7. Call upon the Federal Ministry of Commerce, the Presidency and concerned Federal
Institutions to publish a comprehensive National Trade Policy that clearly and
comprehensively articulates Nigeria’s International Trade Commitments such as WTO,
ACP-EU agreements and NEPAD.
8. The development of agriculture through capacity building of farmers, institutional
strengthening, promotion of easy access to loans and necessary tools such as technology
and machinery to facilitate small scale agricultural development.
9. Participants urges states currently clamouring for big time farmers-so called Zimbabwe
group-to be careful before selling their future. A comprehensive study MUST be done to
understand the concept of ‘large scale farming.’
10. The National Working Group on Globalisation should work with government to ensure
that Nigeria does not loose further grounds in its international trade commitments,
especially considering the various deadlines in the ACP-EU and WTO agreements.
11. The National Working Group on Globalisation should identify Nigerian experts in trade
and globalisation issues and develop a database of same for presentation to government
for inclusion in government’s negotiating teams and the National Focal Point.
12. Government should determine optimal trade positions and commitments that is inclusive
of stakeholder inputs and non-partisan before making further trade commitments.
13. Furthermore all trade commitments must be placed before the national assembly, both to
review and to create the necessary legal framework that will enable the nation take
advantage of the various benefits, as well as reject the negative consequences of those
trade commitments.
14. These positions should be documented and circulated amongst stakeholders as a trade
technical brief.
Dated this 5th Day of May, 2004 in Ibadan, Nigeria
Signed
Bankole Olubamise
Ag. Executive Director, DevNet
National Secretariat, CSO-NWGG.
Comfort O. Hassan,
Programme Officer, NEST, Ibadan
For: South West Regional CSO-NWGG.
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