President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has described military intervention in government and unconstitutional tenure elongation by some leaders as the development cancers which Africa has brought onto itself.
“As a continent and as individual nations, we face strong headwinds and difficult hurdles threatening to complicate our mission to bring qualitative democratic governance and economic development to our people. Many of these obstacles, such as climate change and unfair patterns of global trade, are largely not of our making.
“However, some of the pitfalls, including coup-birthed autocracies and the deleterious tinkering with constitutional tenure provisions, are developmental cancers we as Africans are giving to ourselves.”
President Tinubu made these observations today, February 17, at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Referring specifically to the military takeovers in the Republics of Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, and the exit of three of these nations from ECOWAS, President Tinubu said that disagreements over the unconstitutional changes of government should not mean a permanent rupture of the abiding lines of regional affinity and cooperation.
“The drive for a peaceful, strong, and united West Africa is bigger than any one person or group of people. The bonds of history, culture, commerce, geography, and brotherhood hold deep meaning for our people.
“Thus, out of the dust and fog of misunderstanding and acrimony, we must seize the chance to create a new people-centric era of trust and accord.
“To all who care to listen, I declare that if you come to the table to discuss important matters in good faith, you will find Nigeria and ECOWAS already sitting there waiting to greet you as the brother that you are.”
Tinubu gave strong assurance that Nigeria is ready to host the African Central Bank (ACB) in line with the vision of the previous Abuja Treaty.
He said that his government will engage the African Union Commission (AUC) in collaboration with member states to ensure that the bank takes off, as scheduled, in 2028.
He believes that Africa’s success in addressing its challenges hinges on the firmness of its resolution, built on a foundation of deep-rooted solidarity, if it is to avoid perpetuating existing problems and creating new ones.
Speaking on education, which is the theme of this year’s summit, the Nigerian leader said that education is the core ingredient in the process of evolving creative solutions to the unique challenges long confronting the continent.
“In helping to achieve the Agenda 2063 objective of a peaceful, united and prosperous Africa, I consider African education, not only in the narrow context of the benign use of science and technology to improve the material standards of our people, but also in the nuanced appreciation of the fact that Africa must also become better educated in the humane art of democratic practice, diplomacy, and conflict resolution without violence.
“This year’s theme encourages us to remodel our educational systems to fit these goals. In Nigeria, my administration is devoting ample resources to education at all levels. From redesigning our school feeding programmes and academic curricula to making ourselves an Information and Communication Technology hub, through which we shall bring more youths into the classroom and furnish them with the tools required to flourish in the global economy of the 21st century.”
President Tinubu extended invitation to the Africa Counter-Terrorism Summit scheduled in April 2024, in Abuja, saying that the summit will aim at expanding discussions beyond military and law enforcement remedies.
He said that it will comprehensively tackle the root causes of violent extremism, such as poverty, inadequate political access and the propagation of hateful ideologies.
