President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed confidence in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a regional vehicle in Africa which will strengthen and capitalise on the gains of democracy.
Buhari noted that his confidence is well founded because the organisation has recorded concrete achievements which loudly speak for themselves, leading to the universal acclaim won by ECOWAS as a model regional economic community.
Buhari made the comments while declaring open and welcoming Heads of State to Abuja, Nigeria’s capital for the 48th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS.
He paid glowing tributes to President Kafando and the entire members of his Transitional Government of Burkina Faso for the laudable efforts they deployed in the implementation of the Transitional Charter and the conduct of successful elections in the country.
He described the feat as a demonstration of the Community’s commitment to the principle of democracy and good governance.
“While we wish President Kafando every success in his future endeavours, we congratulate President-elect Roch Marc Christian Kabore and wish him well in the governance of his country,” Buhari said.
He recalled that the election in Burkina Faso completed the cycle of 2015 presidential elections in the ECOWAS region, after successful elections in Nigeria, Togo, Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire.
“This remarkable achievement reflects our collective resolve to entrench democracy and good governance in the region,” Buhari added.
“As we prepare for more general elections in the coming year, I assure Your Excellencies that Nigeria will remain steadfast in its commitment and support to democracy and good governance. We believe that a politically stable West Africa can only be strong and prosperous.”
He thanked H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority for his statesmanship and able leadership since he took over seven months ago. He also thanked the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the Commissioners and staff members for efforts deployed in the preparation of this Summit.
Buhari said: “Over the years, our Organisation has recorded concrete achievements which loudly speak for themselves. ECOWAS has indeed been universally acclaimed as a model regional economic community.
“In spite of the significant achievements, our Community still faces numerous challenges. While some militate against the integration drive, others continue to pose risks to peace and security, as well as political stability in the region. There are also structural and administrative challenges in running the Commission that equally require serious attention.
“Security challenges persist in our region as we continue to be confronted with the daunting scourge of transnational organised crime including arms trafficking, drug trafficking, as well as piracy and criminality at sea. Equally worrying is the rising scourge of violent extremism and terrorism. All this constitute serious threats to peace and security in the region, and therefore require our urgent and concerted actions.”
He added that regional and global solidarity is vital in efforts to counter terrorism.
“To this end, we must continue to enhance our system of governance and, working with our partners, accelerate the implementation of our joint initiatives and mechanisms created to address these daunting but not insurmountable risks,” he said.
“As we do so, we should not relent in our effort to engage with member states coming out of crises, in order to help them to consolidate on the achievements made.”
He observed that the catastrophic consequences of climate change are beginning to manifest the ECOWAS region.
Buhari said: “A number of fragilities, conflicts and environmental degradation that affect our countries today with serious negative impact on peace, security, economy and livelihoods are either directly or indirectly triggered by climate change. Alone, we will not be able to reverse or stop some of these consequences, as it requires huge investment of resources far beyond our capabilities.
“We should therefore continue to press for international assistance and to work with the rest of the world to protect the environment. We should do so without loosing focus on our industrial development objectives. Our efforts to fast track regional integration should also be informed by the requirement for clean source of energy. In this regard, I welcome the agreed outcome of the just concluded COP21 in Paris, which aims at reducing global warming and providing for financial support to developing nations.
“We must also continue to cooperate with our development partners, and take advantage of their willingness to support our initiatives to address all these challenges in the most appropriate and beneficial ways to our region and to global peace and security.
“Nigeria would like to see that on-going reforms in ECOWAS institutions are concluded and firmly entrenched to ensure greater effectiveness in leading the integration process. We would like to see that the resources of the Community are devoted to the implementation of economic programs that would enable us build a prosperous region.”
