Mr Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary, Politics and Economic Affairs, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said the Nigeria would soon sign the African Continental Free Trade Area, AFCTA.

Aduda made the statement, following the call by former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo, to Nigerian government to sign the AFCTA agreement before the formal inauguration in Niamey this year July 7and 8.

According to Aduda if we do not work hard to ensure that a few protective steps are put in place, what we will likely end up with is a dumping ground which is what we do not want.

“With time, Nigeria is going to sign, we have to do like what China did even with the World trade agreement – they gave a condition and that is what we are going to do and you have to look at the size of your market.

“You do not expect a country like Nigeria to be given the same size of cake with a country like the Gambia even though we are all in Africa, it doesn’t work like that because Gambia is just like a local government in Nigeria.

“We need to understand how these things work and we should also understand one thing that behind all these trade issues – the barriers, the policies, the rules and everything – are the big players behind the masquerades- who are the former colonial masters.

“You cannot just go ahead and enter into an agreement with neighboring nations without looking at who is standing behind that nation; how are you going to protect yourself.

“Even though we need a free and fair deal, but how also do we protect ourselves to ensure that we do not just become a dumping ground.

“These are some of the issues we are looking at the moment. Absolutely, we are coming back to the table to say this is what we want.”

The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization, AFCTA is African continental free trade agreement among 52 of the 55 African Union nations and Nigeria is yet to sign.