WorldStage– Nigeria has called for constant dialogue with the Alliance of Sahelian States (AES), to bolster joint efforts toward tackling democratic instability.
A statement by Kimiebi Ebiefa, foreign affairs ministry spokesman, quoted the ministry’s Minister of State, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye, as saying that the dialogue would also promote regional peace and boost security within West Africa and the Sahel.
Enikanolaiye spoke on the margins of the ongoing 56th Session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council holding in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Enikanolaiye, in the statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, described Nigeria’s leadership within ECOWAS and the sub-region as inspiring.
The minister stressed the need for continued dialogue and engagement with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
He also emphasised the need to look at the situation in Guinea Bissau, as brother African nations, to boost joint efforts in tackling perceived challenges in West Africa and the Sahel.
He highlighted major challenges to democracy, regional peace, stability, security and development in the sub-regions.
According to him, the challenges call for innovative and effective mechanisms and strategies for engaging the AES in the light of multipolarity and in view of the worsening security dynamics in the region.
The minister emphasised the need for prompt payment of community levy by ECOWAS member states, unity in tackling terrorism and other organised crimes, promotion of democracy and good governance, among other things, to achieve set targets.
He decried Afrophobic sentiments and violence in South Africa, where citizens of other African States are hounded, and sometimes killed through mob actions, and described the trend as unacceptable.
Enikanolaiye called on the Council to come up with a firm, strongly-worded and collective position to be submitted to the African Union as earlier proposed by Ghana, to ensure sustainable solution to the challenges.
The session was attended by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray and the Chairperson of the Council and Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, Timothy Kabba.
Also in attendance was ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, among others.
