President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, expressed his displeasure over the inability of the standby force to be activated, despite commitments from the Authority of Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
He regretted that it had failed to move from concept to
reality in the collective fight against terrorism and transnational crimes
under his leadership as chairman of the regional bloc.
The President raised the concern in his opening speech at
the 67th ECOWAS Authority’s Ordinary Session in Abuja, one of his final acts as
chairman of the 50-year-old regional economic bloc.
He emphasised the urgency of operationalising the force in
the face of escalating insecurity across the sub-region, noting that, “The
ECOWAS Standby Force must move from concept to operational reality. I am a
little bit worried about the slow pace of its activation, which is taking
longer than desired.”
The Nigerian leader noted that threats confronting the
region are transnational, driven by agile and dangerous networks that respect
nobody’s border.
“No single nation can, therefore, address these challenges
alone. We must strengthen coordination, amplify political will, and prioritise
a collective approach to secure it,” he added.
President Tinubu highlighted major milestones during his
leadership of the regional bloc.
He said the completed ECOWAS Military Logistics Depot in
Lungi, Sierra Leone, will play a critical role in providing equipment and other
logistics to forces deployed by ECOWAS.
“Last February in Addis Ababa, Nigeria signed the Sixth
Agreement with the African Union. With the depot’s completion, Nigeria is
committing itself to sea-lift and air-lift arrangements with ECOWAS,” he said.
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