Janet Samuel, Abuja
In a bid to foster greater unity and corporation among ECOWAS member states, President Bola Tinubu has called on African nations to take charge of their own destiny and work together for unity and integration for economic development.
President Tinubu made the call in a message to the opening ceremony of the second ordinary session of the Economic Community of West Africa State ( ECOWAS Parliament) in Abuja
President Tinubu who was represented by the Deputy President of the Nigeria Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau emphasized the importance of integration and development for West Africa. stating that “integration is not a choice, but an imperative, saying that it is important to leave a lasting legacy for future generations
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The President, who acknowledged the challenges facing ECOWAS, including the atrocities in Sudan and the lack of international attention to Africa’s problems, charged the west African community to take inspiration from the European Union that has emerged a powerful entity and strive for the advancement of West Africa in all sphere.
While challenging African nations to work towards similar goals like the Eropoan union, he called on African nations to take charge of their own destiny and work together to overcome the challenges. Confronted with.
“African nations, with their unique challenges require even greater cooperation and integration. It is clear that the world ‘s not priortizing the resolution of Africa’s problems. The atrocities in Sudan go unnoticed while other regions receive immediate attention
“We must take charge of our own destiny, working together, collaborating and integrating,” the President said.
He praised ECOWAS’ on the feet achieved in the area of development, the construction of major highways, the bridging of the divide between Francophone and Anglophone countries, and the establishment of an efficient telephone network.
Earlier in his welcome address, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Honorable Sidie Tunis, who called for regional solidarity and self-reliance in order to address the challenges facing the region drew attention to the changing order of the world in the past decade,
He charged member states to be more self-reliant and to take more responsibility, noting that the region should not always rely on help from outside for the development and advancement of the region.
The reality is the world has changed a great deal over the past decade. Across the globe, governments and nations are turning inward, in search of resolutions to their challenges.
‘For a region like ours, this means that we need to be more self-reliant. Each Member State must take on more responsibility for the development and advancement of the ECOWAS region,”he said.
In His Good will message, the: ECOWAS Court President Justice, Edward Asante urged the ECOWAS Parliament to provide leadership in addressing the issue of military incursions into politics in West Africa
He called for reforms to improve democratic systems in the region, advising the Parliament to work with national parliaments to ensure the seamless enforcement of its decisions and to strengthen community law and respect for human rights.
