By: Kebba AF Touray
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray has called for a proactive response to the geostrategic and geopolitical development and regional interlocking threats.
Dr. Touray made this call while delivering a statement at the 65th ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS region.
“We must be therefore proactive in our respond to these developments. It is for this reason that the commission is proposing a special extraordinary summit on the future of our community,” Dr. Touray challenged.
He reported that the region has witnessed development such as the recent significant transition of political authority in Senegal, and peaceful election in Togo, “I congratulate both countries and assure them of the commission’s continued collaboration”.
He said that in Sierra Leone, the signing of an agreement for national unity received a major boost recently during a review that ECOWAS, UN and African Union undertook.
He expressed “We salute the leadership of H.E. President Julius Mada Bio and his role in the series of discussions that culminated in the resolution of various issues”.
He cited that the elections that have taken place so far this and those that took place in countries in Nigeria, show that despite all odds, democracy is alive in the ECOWAS Region.
” We look forward to the consolidation of this trend in the region as we prepare for a major election in Ghana this later year,” he said.
He clarified that reminding the region of these positive developments is not in any form and exercise in self-glorification, but rather a recognition of the progress the community has made.
He lamented that the significant of these events and developments is being overshadowed by the multidimensional challenges that the region faces.
“Our region is still confronted with multiple interlocking threats including existential ones. These include climatic and mad-made crises leading to terrorism and violent extremism and food insecurity,” he lamented.
He decried that livelihoods continue to be threatened by illegal and unsustainable exploitation of land, forests, and marine resources.
“Governance deficit and marginalization have strained social contract, engendering bitter rivalries and unhealthy competitions. To complicate the situation, our region has become the arena of geostrategic and geopolitical rivalries, and the theatre of misinformation and disinformation that engenders mistrust amongst and within the community, and undermines social cohesion,” Dr. Touray lamented further.
He reiterated the dire consequences of the withdrawal on the citizens that informed the decision of the authority to open dialogue with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, to maintain the unity of the ECOWAS Community.
He told the authority that the report before them is the report on the various undertaken in the respect to the withdrawal for consideration and further instructions.
“ECOWAS will be 50 next year. In accordance with the instruction of the authority, the commission has started the preparations for the celebration of this important milestone. It is however important to note that we will be celebrating our Golden Jubilee, in a context marked by geopolitical and geostrategic rivalries that have not speared our region,” ECOWAS Commission President Touray announced.
“We must be therefore proactive in our respond to these developments. It is for this reason that the commission is proposing a special extraordinary summit on the future of our community,” Dr. Touray challenged.
He informed the authority that the Honorable Ministers have considered this proposal and instructed that a memorandum be submitted for your consideration.
