Abuja - Nigeria — The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho declared on Tuesday, 30th March 2010 that the "era of coups is over" in West Africa following years of political instability occasioned by military intervention in the governance of Member States.
Exchanging views with the visiting Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Ambassador Vitsezslav Grepl, he said that the region was working towards the restoration of democratic governance except in the errant situation that we are experiencing in Niger. In spite of the gains in political governance in the last two decades in the region, the President acknowledged some "slips" particularly in the tendency by some leaders to manipulate the constitution to either prolong their tenure or hand over to their children, blaming the situation on a "fall in the quality of leadership."
The President also briefed the visitor on the just concluded ECOWAS Conference on Two decades of peacekeeping and peace building in West Africa held in Monrovia, Liberia which provided an opportunity to reflect on the peacekeeping efforts of the region relying mostly on the ingenuity and resources of Member States. He said the conference confirmed the viability of the region's new preference for preventive diplomacy and the effective use of its early warning mechanisms for conflict anticipation and prevention. He also listed the challenges facing the region as the restoration of sustainable growth after the global economic recession, increasing agricultural productivity to ensure that member states achieve food self- sufficiency by 2020 through improved land management and funding, addressing the problems of the environment, especially climate change, as some of the member states have already lost in excess of 80% of their tropical rain forest since independence as well as addressing the serious issue of creeping desertification.
On the specific issue of agriculture, the President said member states were sufficiently resourced to produce enough food, particularly since the region possessed enough land and was traversed by at least five major rivers and had been self -sufficient in food production up till independence in the 60's. Furthermore, he said the region would have to resolve the problem of inadequate energy and the upgrading of its education through the adoption of standards with region-wide applicability. The President proposed to Ambassador Grepl that the Czech Republic might wish to seriously consider partnering with ECOWAS in building a few model centres of excellence in science in secondary and tertiary institutions in the West African region.
Mr. Grepl, who is on a tour of some member states had said his country remains an ally of the region and has contributed towards the regional effort to control the proliferation of small arms through the adoption and implementation of the regional instrument for the control of small arms and light weapons. The Director General , who has responsibility for non-European countries, expressed satisfaction with the region's use of the international contact group mechanism to address challenges in some member states, particularly issues arising out of political developments.
