climate change and other challenges confronting West Africa were not
insurmountable.
The President made the remark at the 48th Ordinary Session of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Summit of Heads of State and
Government, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the sub regional
body, in Abuja,
“In spite of the significant achievements, our Community still faces
numerous challenges. While some militate against the integration drive,
others continue to pose risks to peace and security, as well as political
stability in the region. There are also structural and administrative
challenges in running the Commission that equally require serious
attention.
“Security challenges persist in our region as we continue to be confronted
with the daunting scourge of transnational organised crime including arms
trafficking, drug trafficking, as well as piracy and criminality at sea.
Equally worrying is the rising scourge of violent extremism and terrorism.
All this constitute serious threats to peace and security in the region,
and therefore require our urgent and concerted actions.
“Regional and indeed global solidarity is vital in our efforts to counter
these threats. To this end, we must continue to enhance our system of
governance and, working with our partners, accelerate the implementation
of our joint initiatives and mechanisms created to address these daunting
but not insurmountable risks. As we do so, we should not relent in our
effort to engage with member states coming out of crises, in order to help
them to consolidate on the achievements made,” he said.
President Buhari acknowledged that the problems associated with climate
change may require huge investment of resources far beyond the regional
capabilities.
He therefore urged ECOWAS leaders to continue to press for international
assistance and to work with the rest of the world towards protecting the
environment.
“We should do so without losing focus on our industrial development
objectives. Our efforts to fast track regional integration should also be
informed by the requirement for clean source of energy. In this regard, I
welcome the agreed outcome of the just concluded COP21 in Paris, which
aims at reducing global warming and providing for financial support to
developing nations,” he said.
Also speaking, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadre Desire
Ouedraogo, said to live up to our commitments, “we shall spare no effort
in fixing the shortcomings of our action and tackling the numerous
challenges ahead.”
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr Nkosazana
Dlamini Zuma, said to solve the myriad of problems facing the continent,
every leader must, therefore, “create peace and security, good governance
and stability, build decentralised governance and ensure that young
people, boys and girls are in school and remain in school, create good
jobs by industrialising, provide conditions for innovation, and ensure
that all African citizens, irrespective of their religion, language,
gender can participate in the economic, social, political and cultural
development of the continent.”
On his part, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head
of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), Mohammed Ibn
Chambas, said the UNOWA is committed to further solidifying its
partnership with ECOWAS in addressing threats to peace and security in the
region and in mobilising international attention and support to combat
these threats.