CHOGM 2018: Nigeria, Commonwealth and the London summit

This week, from today Monday 16 to Friday 20 April, the 25th biennial summit of the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), will take place in London. It is the first time the event is held in the UK since 1997. As a proud Londoner, with a longstanding relationship with the Commonwealth, I cannot but comment on thehistoric event, even more so because of the importance of this week’s summitandthe role that Nigeria should play in it. But before we get into all that, let’s remind ourselves of Nigeria’srelationship with the Commonwealth.

Nigeria joined the Commonwealth at independence in 1960. For most part, since that time, we have been an enthusiastic member of the organisation. We produced its third Secretary-General, since the office was established in 1965, in the person of the globally respected elder statesman, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who led the organisation for ten years, from 1990 to 2000. On any visit to the Commonwealth Secretariat, I never cease to admire Chief Anyaoku’s larger than life portrait in his traditional Nigerian attire. He was an iconic and highly successful secretary general!

I attended my first CHOGM in Abuja in December 2003. I had been asked by the Commonwealth Business Council to be the rapporteur for the Business Forum during the summit. With both the Hilton and Sheraton hotels cordoned off to accommodate the guests, including the Queen and her entourage, and with several colourful social and cultural activities, it was a very memorable event for many of the foreign visitors.

Of course, Nigeria will always pull out all the stops to organise spectacular events to impress foreigners. Sadly, it lacks the ability and/or the willingness to organise its own affairs. For instance, despite its enthusiasm for the Commonwealth, Nigeria falls far short of meeting its goals. Of the three Commonwealth goals – development, democracy and peace – Nigeria is certainly nowhere near attaining at least two, development and peace, not with widespread poverty, inequality, political tension and insecurity in the country.

However, its internal deficiencies notwithstanding, Nigeria has always been an active member of the Commonwealth. The only exception was during the Abacha dictatorship when, following the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nigeria was ejected from the organisation in 1995. This was particularly embarrassing because, at that time, a Nigerian, Chief Anyaoku, was secretary-general of the Commonwealth. Abacha turned a deaf ear to Anyaoku’s entreaties, rejected Mandela’s pleas, and killed Saro-Wiwa. Nigeria crossed the Rubicon, its behaviour was beyond the pale, and had to be sent out of the Commonwealth.

But no member wants to be ostracised from the Commonwealth for too long. Every member suspended from the organisation always applied to be readmitted when the time became auspicious, as Nigeria did in 1999 after returning to democracy, and as The Gambia and Zimbabwe are currently doing after Yahya Jammeh and Robert Mugabe were replaced by more civilised leaders.

So, why is the Commonwealth that important? Well, I would say there are two main reasons. The first is its functional value. The Commonwealth, a club of mostly former British colonies, is the only plurilateral organisation in the world whose membership spans the globe. Its 53 member-countries spread across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. It is also the only such organisation with membership encompassing developed, developing, small and vulnerable states. These global reach and diversity enable the Commonwealth to leverage support for its members and their citizens through institutional development, capacity building, technical cooperation and professional development.

Then, there is the normative value. The Commonwealth Charter, agreed on 14 December 2012, sets out 16 core principles to which all members are committed. These range from democracy, human rights and peace and security to rule of law, good governance, gender equality as well as health, education, food and shelter. Of course, as Nigeria shows, not every Commonwealth member adheres to all these principles, or fully to any. However, the principles are benchmarks against which the behaviour of every member-country can be measured, and therefore serve as a powerful source of normative pressure.

For instance, all eyes will be on Nigeria next year as it holds its general elections. It will be expected to conduct the elections in an environment “where there is confidence, transparency and accountability in the electoral process, and where voters are free to exercise an informed choice between alternative candidates for office”. Following the success of the 2015 elections, Nigeria would be expected to strengthen its democracy and enhance the credibility of its electoral process by conducting free, fair and peaceful elections.Commonwealth election observers would, of course, be on the ground to see if Nigeria passes the electoral test. It is a test that Nigeria must not fail!

So, the Commonwealth is a relevant organisation that provides valuable public good. But it is now facing pressure to do more, to become somewhat an economic bloc! Which brings me to why this week’s London summit is important. The summit,which comes just a year before Britain leaves the EU (Brexit), will have a significant impact on the future of the Commonwealth. It is not surprising that the theme of the CHOGM 2018 is “Towards a common future”.

Simply put, the Commonwealth will be different post-Brexit. This is because the UK is very keen to secure trade deals with as many Commonwealth countries as possible, with Nigeria among its priority countries. In fact, British officials had hoped that trade talks would form a key part of the CHOGM agenda, but other Commonwealth members resisted turning the summit into a trade round. But the issue will still dominate discussions on the margins of the summit. As one British minister said, “We are hoping that through the bilateral discussion that will take place there would be huge opportunities to advance trade talks”.

Sadly, Nigeria is unlikely to engage constructively in such talks, given its reflex defensive attitude to trade issues. Indeed, can the trade minister, Okechukwu Enelamah, freely engage in such bilateral trade talks when President Buhari can easily overrule him (a la AfCFTA!)? What’s more, would Nigeria embrace a more economic Commonwealth with greater push for a commitment to free trade? Or would it be one the refuseniks? The latter, of course, is more likely, which reflects the regressive state of policy-making in Nigeria.

Nevertheless, trade and investment issues, if not actual trade talks, will still dominate the CHOGM agenda, particularly its Business Forum, from 16 to 18 April, where the discussion will focus on, among others, advancing intra-Commonwealth trade and strengthening the “Commonwealth advantage”.

In 2015, the Commonwealth Secretariat invited me to join a panel of experts to review its flagship trade publication, “The Commonwealth in the Unfolding Global Trade Landscape”. The study showed that there is a “Commonwealth Advantage”, which helps to increase trade by 20%, and reduce the cost of doing business by up to 19%, between Commonwealth countries than between them and non-Commonwealth countries. These findings will shape discussions at the Commonwealth Business Forum.

But the CHOGM will not all be about business talks. One subject that might also be broached is the next head of the Commonwealth after the Queen. Of course, the Queen is universally adored, so much so that, according to media reports, some Commonwealth high commissioners want to nominate her for the Nobel Peace Prize. But after her, who next? Obviously, the Queen’s successor to lead the organisation should be Prince Charles when he becomes king, but the role is not hereditary, and, in principle, nothing should be taken for granted!

Yet, for me, the present informal arrangement whereby the symbolic head of the Commonwealth is the British monarch, who is also head of state of 16 Commonwealth countries, while the chief executive of the organisation, i.e. the secretary-general, is rotated among other Commonwealth members, currently held by Patricia Scotland from Dominica, seems to work perfectly well. Surely, when the time to take that decision comes, Nigeria should support Prince Charles for the role!

So, this week’s CHOGM is an interesting one for the Commonwealth and all its well-wishers. I look forward to it, and hope Nigeria takes active part in deciding the organisation’s “common future”, including on economic cooperation.

Olu Fasan