Stand on it

Nigeria has threatened to withdraw its membership of the Maritime Organisation for West and Central Africa (MOWCA) because of a gang up against its candidate for secretary-general of the regional body. The country is also contesting the eligibility of the other two candidates for the position.

A statement by Eric Ojiekwe, director of press and public relations in the Federal Ministry of Transportation said that was position of the Nigerian delegation to the 8th Bureau of Ministers and 15th General Assembly of MOWCA held on Thursday, July 29 in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ojiekwe explained that the Nigerian delegation did not accept the outcome of the meeting because it failed to recognize the country’s “ardent and consistent support” which included over $5 million financial contribution in the past ten years. In that period  the organisation failed to employ a single Nigerian, the statement added.

“Nigeria as a nation must take a stand against the promotion of illegality, disrespect for the rule of law and contravention of the rules regarding election of the secretary-general of MOWCA,” the statement read in part. It said that Nigeria was the only country that met the age eligibility requirement that candidates vying for the position of  MOWCA’s secretary-general must not exceed 55 years. It noted that the candidate nominated by Nigeria was 55 years at the close of nominations closed in 2020, while the Guinean candidate was 60 years old and that of Benin was 62.

Nigeria frowned on what it described as the “apparent willingness” of some member states to consider for elections candidates who, knowingly, contravened the age eligibility by over five years in the case of Guinea and seven years in that of Benin. It argued that Paul Adaliku, the Nigerian candidate and director, maritime services, Federal Ministry of Transportation, was the only eligible candidate and should have been declared elected unopposed.

It is clear what is at play here – geopolitics. Guinea and Benin, our close door neighbour, are both French speaking. And what more, membership of MOWCA is predominantly French speaking. It is, therefore, understanding, the gang up. Blood, in this case figuratively, is thicker than water.

This linguistic rivalry in Africa is not new. But it has worked against Nigeria’s interest more often. Why because of fear of domination by this “giant of Africa”. We have the resources and market to make us a true giant. This is Providence, not our making. If our ‘brothers’ choose to cringe before rather than accept and respect us, it is their headache, not us. After all, we have not used our God given wealth selfishly.

Rather, we have used it to support sister nations and regional bodies of which we are members. Examples include the African Development Bank (AfDB) and this very MOWCA. For several years geopolitics denied Nigeria the presidency of the bank until Dr. Adesina won it in 2015. He was reelected in April 2021.

Having done so much for Africa, the least we expect is respect, not our benevolence to be used against us. This we cannot accept. Our delegation to the MOWCA meeting did the right thing by protesting the illegality committed in Kinshasa. We urge the Federal Government to take a firm stand in this matter