Abuja — The President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency James Victor Gbeho, has reiterated the organization's strong condemnation of the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Nigeria and expressed solidarity with the Government and people of the country over steps being taken to counter the threat to national and regional security.
Addressing the closing session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja on Friday, 30th September 2011, the president described the security situation in the region as "tenuous and of concern to all stakeholders." He expressed deep concern about the potential links between terrorist cells in Nigeria and those in the Sahara-Sahel belt, especially the impact of the phenomenon on the development of the ECOWAS region and on international peace and security.
"We therefore identify ourselves with the measures being taken by the Government of Nigeria to counter this latest threat to its security," declared President Gbeho, who also briefed the parliamentarians on recent developments relating to the implementation of the ECOWAS Work Programme and other key socio-economic and political events within the Community. He mentioned areas of ECOWAS' interventions on regional developments such as electoral assistance and activities to enhance the conceptual and organizational capacities of the region's electoral management bodies and the strengthening of political affairs and international cooperation, including preventive diplomacy.
Others are collaborations with development partners on peace and security; as well as deepening of democracy and good governance through the strengthening of the capacity of critical governance institutions in Member States. On efforts to transform the regional parliament from an advisory to a law- making organ of the Community, President Gbeho called on the parliamentarians to help meet the expectations of the citizens, including a greater involvement of the parliamentarians in the regional integration and development agenda. He called on the parliamentarians to continue to engage national economic managers on sustained and inclusive economic growth, including youth employment, strengthening of the technical committees of both national and regional parliaments in matters of regional integration as well as regular sensitization of Community citizens to boost awareness and ownership of the integration process.
The president appealed to the regional lawmakers to ratify all outstanding ECOWAS protocols, noting that some 17 Protocols and Conventions were yet to enter into force; 12 were pending ratification while one Member State was yet to transmit the instruments of ratification of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty to the Commission. He also called for continuous support to political leaders to consolidate peace and security in the region to ensure that electoral processes in Member States were credible with economic and political governance institutionalized.
