By Williams Amofokhai
Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, who is attending his maiden African Union (AU) meeting on Sunday rejected the notion of a new scramble for Africa.
The Nigerian president re-affirmed Africa’s unity and strength, while warning that past plundering and exploitation of the continent should remain in the past and never be repeated.
The event was the Fifth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (5thMYCM) of the African Union (AU), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Mechanisms (RMs), and the African Union Member-States.
Tinubu hinted of move to to strengthen the ECOWAS Standby Force to deter coups and combat terrorism in the sub-region.
He listed the progress made by ECOWAS in various sectors of its integration process, including trade, free movement of persons, investment promotion, infrastructure development, and security.
Tinubu emphasized the need for Africa to overcome its challenges and work towards a prosperous future, focusing on inclusive growth, good governance, and leveraging the opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The president called for for good governance to ensure a prosperous future for Africa, free from the exploitations of the past.
He stated that as Africans, there was the need the to forge ahead no matter the barriers thrust before them, saying that he world we inhabit is often unkind and uncertain. Past history and current global difficulties argue against our future success.
Speaking on peace, security, and stability, Tinubu stated that the challenges faced by the sub-region included terrorism and anti-constitutional changes in government.
According to him, the African leaders were at the meeting for meaningful discussion of vital economic matters, saying that it would be impossible to bring full meaning to what “we attempt unless we give due consideration to the instability and conflict that now scar many of our nations.
”The fullness of the integration we seek will elude us as long as several of our nations stand in the midst of violence and war.”
Tinubu said the trade and commerce “we talk of today refers to valued goods and services that improve life. The trade and commerce these nations suffer is of destruction and disorder that takes lives and steals opportunity.
”We cannot integrate Africa and attain the prosperity we seek while our nearby brothers and sisters suffer in pain and anguish, they should not suffer. We must advance as one continent toward peace and prosperity.”
