Tinubu elected ECOWAS chairman

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Post created on 11:27 am

 

 

The president of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been elected the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Tinubu elected at the 63rd ordinary session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State succeeds President Umaro Embalo of Guinea Bissau as ECOWAS chair.

Tinubu, who is the latest entrant into the exclusive club of Heads of State in West Africa promised his “unalloyed commitment” to providing purposeful leadership and serving the interest of the community.

“Indeed, I’m humbled and honoured by this trust, and want to assure you of my unalloyed commitment to provide the necessary leadership with dedication to serve the interest of the community,” he said.

He also called for collective actions from member-states to combat insecurity and terrorism affecting the progress and development of the region.

“On peace and security, the threat has reached an alarming level, and needs urgent actions in addressing the challenges,” Tinubu said.

“Indeed, without a peaceful environment, progress and development in the region will continue to remain elusive. In this regard, we must remain committed to the utilisation of all regional frameworks at our disposal to address the menace of insecurity,”

“I will ensure that we immediately harmonize these plans and mobilize resources as well as the political will towards the actualisation of the initiatives. As terrorists do not respect boundaries, we must work collectively to have an effective regional counterterrorism measure,”

“We must stand firm on democracy. There is no governance, freedom and rule of law without Democracy. We will not accept coup after coup in West Africa again. Democracy is very difficult to manage but it is the best form of government.

“There is no one here among us who did not campaign to be a leader. We didn’t give our soldiers resources, we didn’t invest in them, in their boots, in their training to violate the freedom of the people. To turn their guns against civil authorities is a violation of the principles upon which they were hired, which is, to defend the sovereignty of their nations. We must not sit in ECOWAS as toothless bulldogs,” the President warned.