President Bola Tinubu has called on West African leaders to intensify efforts in tackling poverty, unemployment, and inequality, while emphasizing the need to invest in education, innovation, and skill acquisition to secure the region’s future.
Speaking through the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra, Ghana, Tinubu urged renewed commitment to regional development and solidarity. The statement was released by the minister’s media aide, Magnus Eze, on Tuesday.
Reflecting on the foundation of ECOWAS in 1975, Tinubu acknowledged the achievements made over five decades in promoting unity, resilience, and economic cooperation. He expressed appreciation to Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, for his leadership and support of regional integration, describing Ghana as a model of democratic progress.
Highlighting ECOWAS’s achievements, Tinubu noted the establishment of a vibrant free trade area and the introduction of the ECOWAS passport as major strides in regional integration. “Today, we celebrate numerous remarkable achievements that distinguish ECOWAS as the most successful regional economic community on the African continent,” he said. He also commended ECOMOG’s role in peacekeeping efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia.
Despite these successes, Tinubu acknowledged the pressing challenges still facing the region. “Too many of our citizens still live in poverty, too many of our children lack access to quality education, and too many of our youth remain unemployed, disillusioned, or forced to seek opportunities abroad,” he noted.
He warned that violent extremism, climate change, food insecurity, and unconstitutional changes in government threaten the democratic gains the region has worked to build. “Our region continues to grapple with new and evolving threats… the wave of unconstitutional changes seriously threatens the democratic gains we have painstakingly built,” he said.
As the current Chair of ECOWAS, President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s dedication to democratic values, good governance, and regional unity. He called for ECOWAS to focus more on the youth, describing them as central to the region’s future. “We must place our young, dynamic, creative, and resilient people at the centre of our agenda,” he said, urging investment in their development.
Tinubu also stressed the need for deeper integration, including a single regional currency and improved infrastructure to link markets and communities across borders.
In closing, the ECOWAS Chairman called for a renewed commitment to Pan-Africanism, urging member states to embrace reform and maintain open lines of communication with countries currently outside the bloc. “Let us use this Jubilee as a moment of renewal… Let us build an ECOWAS that is more resilient, more inclusive, and more responsive to the needs of our people,” he concluded.
