President Muhammadu Buhari has stressed the need for an enduring security partnership among member countries of the ECOWAS to confront and defeat the evil of cross-border terrorism.

The Nigerian leader made the call at the 56th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority Heads of State and Government in Abuja on Saturday.

He stated that the call had become imperative in view of the fact that terrorism had remained the major threat to the peace and progress of the sub-region.

Buhari observed that the recurring attempts by terrorist groups had reminded the ECOWAS leaders and all peace-loving citizens of the urgency to build an enduring security partnership to confront them.

The Nigerian leader called for a minute silence in honour of victims of terrorist attacks in the Tilabari Region of Niger Republic, where over 70 soldiers and other citizens were killed by the terrorists.

He said: ”It was with great shock and immense pain that I received the news of the tragedy last week in the Tilabari Region of Niger Republic, where over 33 valiant soldiers and other citizens of the country were brutally massacred in yet another cowardly terrorist attack by these enemies of peace and progress.

”As we mourn this enormous loss, our thoughts and sympathies go to the families of these heroes and the entire people of Niger Republic.”

Buhari restated Nigeria’s commitment to regional integration and stressed the need for the regional leaders to always channel their energies towards realising new strategies and initiatives.

He expressed the hope that such initiatives would accelerate the attainment of regional aspirations for sustainable peace, security, stability and inclusive economic growth.

”To achieve these, we must put our people at the heart of our policies,” he said.

Buhari says instability in State of Libya is a recurring threat to the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa, and expressed concern over the growing effect of the crisis on many lives.

President Buhari said the crisis in Libya had perpetuated instability in the West Coast, with many of the trained fighters in the country now surviving on violent crimes and terrorism.

The President said the Libyan fighters, who were trained for the 43 years Muammar Gaddafi ruled the country, were armed with deadly weapons and had been roaming the Sahel and sub-Sahara sub-region, with no other skills for survival ‘‘but to shoot and kill.’’

He expressed happiness that neighbouring countries were supporting Nigeria in tackling the menace of the fighters who had teamed up with Boko Haram.

President Buhari, however, stressed the need to do more by the West African countries, both under the ECOWAS platform and at bilateral levels.

In his remarks, President Quattara said he came to brief the Nigerian leader on progress of the ECOWAS mandate given to him to negotiate exit of Francophone West African countries from their currency union with France and European Union.

The Ivorian President said he was pleased to report that he received the full support of the French government, under President Emmanuel Macron, and that the West African States were free to leave the union and join the ‘‘Eco’’, the new currency designated for the West Coast.

President Buhari expressed delight that France did not stand in the way of the “Eco’’.

On the ongoing debate in Nigeria on foreign borrowing, President Buhari said it was necessary to fund infrastructure projects, adding that ‘‘without roads, rail and power, investors will not be encouraged to invest in the country.’’

At another bilateral meeting with the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, President Buhari said he was impressed with the ongoing efforts of the administration to secure and stabilize the country.

‘I am happy that your policies and plans are holding on. I assure you that we will continue to support you.

”A problem in the neighbourhood is our problem. I will keep in touch with our officials to see how we can support,’’ he said.

Earlier in his remarks, the President of Sierra Leone recalled the level of cooperation between his country and Nigeria, appreciating President Buhari for various forms of support to his country, including provision of teachers, nurses, technicians and engineers.

He said more support was needed in the economic sector to ease the growing hardship among lower segments of the country’s population.

At a bilateral with President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso, President Buhari commended the country’s leader for sustaining investment in infrastructure in spite of distractions from terrorists.

President Buhari and President Kaboré agreed to convene a meeting of the two states to discuss in greater detail issues pertaining to security and economy.

While describing Nigeria as a ‘‘power house that drives economic growth and development in the region’’, Kaboré said his country had high expectations of their “excellent relations’’ with Nigeria.

President Buhari also had a meeting with Liberian President, George Manneh Oppong Weah and President of Benin, Patrice Talon, at the ECOWAS summit.

In his opening address, the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government and President of Republic of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, highlighted the dangers posed by terrorist groups to people and economy of the member-states.

Issoufou, who also ordered for a minute silence for those soldiers killed by terrorists in his country, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, said ECOWAS member-countries must come together to fight terrorism to a standstill for meaningful developments in the sub-region.

He said: ”The creation of a common area of peace, security and economic intergration is without the slightest doubt the key to the future of our region.

“Current regional and global developments in security, constraint me to dwell on the security situation of our region.

“Our region has been hard hit by terrorist attacks every passing day, threatening almost all the national and regional achievements we have made.

“We therefore hope that the prompt implementation of the recommendations of our extraordinary summit on terrorism held on Sept. 14 in Ouagadougou will enable us collectively meet this challenge, which appears to be an attack by faithless criminals, on our dignity and Soverignity.

”The terrorist attacks continually test our commitment to fighting the scourge.

“It is therefore incumbent upon us to respond to all these attacks with firmness and determination,”

In his remarks, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, commended the regional leaders for their continued efforts at promoting socio-economic developments of the sub-region.

He, however, alerted the leaders on the increasing threats posed by the activities of violent groups across member countries of the commission.

Also speaking at the event, the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, narrated the achievements of the Bank over the past four years.

He revealed that the Bank was rated as the fourth most transparent institution globally last year.

”The African Development Bank was rated number one – together with the World Bank and the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization (GAVI) – by the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) that ranks global institutions for their fitness for purpose.

”The African Development Bank has totally rebranded itself. Today, with our High 5s – Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa – we are helping to deliver impressive results for Africa,” he said.

Adesina, who expressed delight over the partnership between the African Development Bank and the ECOWAS Commission, said in the past four years, the bank had helped to support 18 million people connected to electricity and 141 million people with access to agricultural technologies for food security.

He also revealed that the bank had provided 13 million people with access to finance; 101 million people with access to improved transport and 60 million people with access to improved water and sanitation.

President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Brou, says the region’s economy is steadily growing, reaching 3.3 per cent in 2019, which shows a positive achievement.

Brou gave the assessment during the 56th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government on Saturday in Abuja.

He commended the economic development of the region despite the challenges of insecurity facing the region.

The regional president also commended Member States for their resilience.

Brou pledged the continuous support of the ECOWAS Commission to various programmes to foster economic development in member states.

He told the Authority of Heads of State and Governments that the economic and social developments in the region are outlined in the State of the Community Report with recommendations.

“Seven ECOWAS countries have consistently recorded growth rates above six per cent in 2019.

“The commission will continue to support investment programmes in all sectors with particular emphasis on production as well as promoting and boosting the private sector.

“We will have to grow intra-community trade, a source of wealth and job creation.

“Thus, I wish to encourage the tripartite committee working to resolve the situation at the borders of some countries,’’ Brou said.

He expressed appreciation to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for its invaluable technical and financial support for the effective implementation of numerous programmes and projects in the region.

Brou also appreciated the Authority of Heads of State and Governments for their commitments to effectively carrying out the missions entrusted in them by citizens.

He pledged the commitment of ECOWAS commission to make the community a region of peace, security and prosperity.

On his part, AfDB’s President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, pledged that the bank would continue to support the region in tackling its challenges.

Adesina said that there could be no development where there is no peace and stability.

He said that the bank had assisted more than 101 million people in the region with access to improved transportation, 60 million people with access to good water and sanitation and 13 million people with finances.

On transportation and development, he pledged the support of AfDB to the completion of the Lagos-Abidjan road project.

Adesina lauded the Heads of State and Governments for their leadership to mobilise $1 billion to ensure the region’s security.

“When leaders decide, things happen.

“The African Development Bank will be ready to help ECOWAS on this fund, especially to help structure how this fund can be securitised.

“With securitisation, it will be possible to leverage several times more resources from the capital market, through the launch of an ECOWAS Security Investment bond.

“I am also discussing with IMF’s Managing Director on how we can come up with new financing instruments to address these exogenous security-related shocks,’’ Adesina said.

President Issoufou urges ECOWAS to adopt firm approach toward tackling terrorism in sub-region

President Mahammadou Issoufou of Niger Republic, who is the Chairman, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government has urged member states to take a decisive approach to tackling terrorism in the sub-region.

Issoufou made the call on Saturday in Abuja at the Opening of the 56th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government.

He said that the West-African sub-region had been hard hit by terrorist attacks, which have intensified and have threatened many national and regional achievements and developments already made by member countries.

Issoufou said that it had, therefore, become very important for member states to respond to the recurring attacks.

“The creation of a common area of peace, security and economic intergration is with without the slightest doubt the key to the future of our region.

“Current regional and global developments in security, constrain me to dwell on the security situation of our region.

“Our region has been hard hit by terrorist attacks every passing day, threatening the ,any national and regional achievements we have made.

“We therefore hope that the prompt implementation of the recommendations of our extraordinary summit on terrorism held on Sept. 14 in Ouagadougou will enable us to collectively meet this challenge, which appears to be an attack by faithless criminals on our dignity and Soverignity.

“The terrorist attacks continually test our commitment to fighting the scourge.

“It is therefore incumbent upon us to respond to all these attacks with firmness and determination,” Issoufou said.

He added that counter-terrorism had a global dimension that should make the entire international community to join in the fight.

The chair of the meeting said that apart from the issue of regional insecurity, ECOWAS should remain focused on economic reform projects and programmes.

He said it had, therefore, become mportant for countries to step up efforts to develop economic infrastructure, boost intra-regional trade, and promote macro-economic convergence.

Issoufou stressed the need for continuous work and commitment toward the implementation of the ECOWAS Single Currency, explaining that doing so would promote the socio-economic well-being of the people.

Also speaking, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Brou said that three major issues bordering on security, political stability, and economic development would require the attention of the authority of heads of states.

Brou said that the recent terrorist attacks in the region and the thoughts of many civilian and military victims would strengthen the determination of member states to collectively and effectively fight to eradicate the scourge.

“In the past 11 months of 2019, terrorist attacks increased by almost 80 per cent compared to the same period in 2018 and caused more than 1,800 civilian casualties.

“This situation has led to a humanitarian crises with the displacement of nearly 2.8 million people and the closure of hundreds of schools.

“I will like to welcome the decision of the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA) Summit to disburse and initial amount of 100 million dollars to support this effort,” Brou said.

On the political and economic front, Brou said that the region has made good progress to deepening democracy and showing positive achievements economically.

In his remarks, Mr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) said that the root causes of terrorism should be addressed to definitively eradicate the “scourge”.

Chambas pledged the continous support of UNOWAS to enhance coordination with ECOWAS, the G5 Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin Commission towards achieving the SDGs and long term stabilization of the region.

He also applauded ECOWAS for the role it is playing in supporting the people of Guinea-Bissau toward the peaceful conduct of the first round of its Presidential Elections on Nov. 24th.