The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States Council of Ministers, Ambassador Yusuf  Tuggar, has warned against continued economic dependence on former colonial powers.

Tuggar gave the warning at the opening ceremony of the 94th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers on Thursday in Abuja.

The two-day session is focused on deepening economic integration and tackling key developmental challenges in the West African subregion.

Addressing ministers and delegates gathered, Tuggar stated, “For newly independent African countries, if you stay alone and isolated from your neighbours, you remain dependent on the former colonial master, forever consigning yourself to being an exporter of agricultural cash crops and raw materials to the metropolis.”

The chair urged West African nations to reclaim control of their destinies through regional trade, joint infrastructure, and collective self-reliance.

“Conversely,” he continued, “if you trade freely with your neighbours, develop infrastructure jointly to strengthen that trade, you develop indigenous industries, collective self-reliance, and take control of your destinies.”

The minister reminded delegates of the ideological roots of ECOWAS and similar African regional blocs, noting that they were “borne out of our yearning for economic decolonisation and not the other way round.”

The minister called on member states to revisit the founding purpose of ECOWAS, not simply as a bureaucratic institution but as a revolutionary response to the structural limitations imposed by colonial legacies.

As ministers prepared to deliberate on a broad agenda covering trade, infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, and institutional reform, Tuggar urged a collaborative spirit.

“I invite us all to approach our discussions with an ethos of collegiality, compromise, and flexibility with a broader vision for a strong, united, and resilient Regional Economic Community,” he said.

“This session should be defined not only by the depth of our deliberations,” he added, “but also by the courage of our decisions.”

In his opening address, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar  Touray, acknowledged ongoing institutional efforts to advance regional integration and presented key agenda items for the session, including trade liberalisation, industrial development, and responses to emerging global economic shifts.

Touray drew particular attention to the persistent issue of non-tariff barriers, describing them as a “perennial obstacle to boosting regional trade, investment, industrialisation, competitiveness, and economic growth of our region.”

“In May, I travelled by road from Lagos to Cotonou to see the situation along the regional corridor and the joint border post established at the Seme/Krake border between Nigeria and Benin. I saw firsthand the challenges posed by non-tariff barriers along the corridor.

“We must do everything to put an end to this and facilitate economic exchange across the region,” he said.

The session is reviewing recommendations from the recent Joint Meeting of ECOWAS Ministers of Trade and Industry.

Among the proposals are the adoption of a regional Trade and Investment Promotion Strategy and accelerated ratification of key agreements, including the WTO Fisheries Subsidy Agreement and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Also under review is a proposed Cooperation Agreement between the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority and Member States to enforce competition and consumer protection rules.

Touray urged countries to act swiftly, saying, “The ministers have considered the Cooperation Agreement between ERCA and member states… and requested member states to take necessary measures for its signature by the end of June 2025.”

On inter-regional and international trade, he said ministers also discussed the West Africa–European Union Economic Partnership Agreement and implications of new US tariff policies.

“The ministers recommended further national consultation with key stakeholders, in particular the private sector, to propose a way forward,” he added.

Addressing regional peace and security, the ECOWAS commission president announced a shared understanding with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to tackle terrorism and violent extremism together.

“We have secured an understanding with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger on the need to work together to build confidence to collectively confront terrorism and violent extremism,” he said.

He also shared updates on dialogue with Guinea. “With Guinea, discussions have resumed on political transition, and we are working to create the right environment for the people of Guinea to determine the political future of their country,” Touray noted.

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in what it described as the growing domination of medical doctors in the health and education sectors.

ACPN warned that such practices are detrimental to national development and inclusive governance.

The pharmacists made this known in an open letter signed by their National Chairman, Ambrose Ezeh, and his Secretary, Omokhafe Ashore, dated June 16, 2025.

The letter titled, “Call off these bluffs in national interest,” followed reports of industrial action by members of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria at the University of Calabar, who downed tools over the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor.

According to the ACPN, the protest is part of a wider trend, referencing a similar situation at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, where the appointment of a VC was nullified by the Federal Ministry of Education because MDCAN members at the institution went on strike.

It said in the last few years, the Nigerian Medical Association, MDCAN, and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors have become audacious in Nigeria because the FG inadvertently boosted a culture of fascism in the health and labour sectors between 2015 and 2023, and now the Health and Education Sectors through the appointment of physician–ministers in these crucial sectors.

According to the association, since 1985, only physicians have been appointed as Chief Medical Directors or Medical Directors of federal health institutions based on a misinterpretation of eligibility criteria.

“In Nigeria, contrary to the dictates of common sense, only physicians are designated as CMDs/CEOs of FHIs since 1985 (40 years ago) because they wrongly interpreted the condition precedent for such appointments, which ties eligibility to being ‘medically qualified’ as implying that only physicians meet the eligibility criterion.

“In more damning circumstances, the Ninth NASS actually fraudulently passed a Federal Medical Centre bill later signed into law without public hearing which now makes it mandatory that only personnel registered by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria can be appointed as MD/CEO of Federal Medical Centres in Nigeria in 2023.

“Despite these insultingly ancient methodologies of physicians in Nigeria, to unlawfully create a dozen exclusive privileges for themselves in Nigeria, they have now with the blessing of Education Minister, Dr. Tunji Alausa, perfected a thriving culture of blackmail to proceed on strike everytime there is a contest for the position of VCs and the rules which are grounded in having a Ph.D. as condition precedent is applied because most of these physicians have professional qualifications of fellowships and not Ph.Ds. which are academic qualifications. Most public sector appointments have strict conditions precedent, which make the appointment lawful.

“The ineptitude of the FG to succumb to this shameful blackmail leaves a sour taste in the mouth as lawful stakeholders who are eligible based on the rules wallow in chronic invalidism imposed by the corrupted mechanism embraced by the Federal Ministry of Education,” the letter partly read.

The association also expressed disappointment in the Federal Ministry of Health for failing to properly involve pharmacists in key drug procurement processes, including the recent rollout of the MEDIPOOL initiative.

It renewed its call for the establishment of a Federal Drug Management Agency to standardise drug procurement and distribution across the country.

According to the association, Universal Health Coverage remains a mirage in Nigeria because the strategic pillars to achieve it are hindered by stumbling blocks.

“Your Excellency, we strongly demand a presidential intervention to make the government stand up to its stewardship responsibilities as the government.

“The government should change tactics in the skewed appointment of physicians who dominate sectors which are alien to medical practice while resisting ‘incursions’ into healthcare by any other cadre of practitioners, including colleagues, non-physician health professionals.

“It is important to inform Mr President that the humiliation health workers in healthcare are subjected to in deference to physicians is beginning to affect the psyche of youths in a generation where nobody wants to be an underdog.

“National growth, development, transformation and evolution will gradually become stunted if the Federal Government does not wield the big stick to stop the outrageously incomprehensible dominance of an overpampered group of civil servants who get what they request and are allowed to dictate a pittance for other skilled personnel in the Nigerian workforce.

“Your Excellency, the time to act is now in the public interest,” it concluded.&