EXCLUSIVE: ECOWAS PARLIAMENT SPEAKER COMMEMORATE ECOWAS DAY- Urge Govt. of Member State to Redesign Budget.

The speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, H.E Sidie Mohamed Tunis on the

occasion of the commemoration of ECOWAS DAY convey warm felicitations

and best wishes to ECOWAS Citizens across the fifteen Member State on

behalf of the Parliament.

Speaker Sidie in his message call to mind the creation of the

community of the current fifteen West African States, with the signing

of the Treaty of Lagos on 28th May, 1975, a community whose founding

fathers birthed the long-term vision which inspired the establishment

of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

He said the vision of the founding fathers envisioned a regional

community geared toward fostering interstate economic and political

cooperation along the West African coastal and its landlocked zones,

cutting across linguistic, geographic ad colonial barriers.

“The revision of the Lagos Treaty in 1993 assigned more mandate to

ECOWAS, setting as economic objectives the achievement of a Common

market and Custom Union;

“ECOWAS then began a new journey, with the adoption by Member States

of the Revised Treaty which also provided for the establishment of

ECOWAS Parliament and the ECOWAS Court of Justice, and has also

expanded the role of the ECOWAS to include conflict prevention and

ensuring good governance and democracy.

Highlighting the achievement of ECOWAS, speaker Sidie said “ECOWAS has

focused on numerous programs, with some of its flagship programs

centering on the Trade Liberalization Scheme which fast-tracked the

adoption of the Common External Tariff (CET);

“Other initiatives include the Free Movement of Persons, Goods,

Services and Capital, on which platform ECOWAS modestly distinguished

itself amongst peers in the entire region of Africa, as the most

successful regional economic community in the area of visa-free

migration, right of residence and establishment for its citizens. Yet

others are, the Montary Cooperation Program and program on Peace and

Security;

“Forty five years down the line of history, our States are better

integrated, with citizens migrating more freely and goods and service

s more readily available across Member States. ECOWAS has remarkable

records of success in maintaining peace and stability in Member States

whilst upholding democratic values across the region;

“Also worthy of note are its Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) which

aims to promote agri-business and agricultural practices that re

modern and sustainable in Member States, the multi-faceted

infrastructure program that others improvement of inter-state corridor

roads, rails, air links and telecommunications, energy as well as the

program on the single currency” Sidie said.

Similarly, Speaker Sidie has called on Government of Members State to

redesign its budget and programs to reflect changes envisaged by the

effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economies of Member States.

Sidie in his ECOWAS Day message said that the need for this

redesigning is to protect livelihoods and investments in key sectors

of our economies and identifying ingenious ways of injecting liquidity

as a lifeblood to stimulate Member states economies.

According to the message Sidie said, “we are mindful of the fact that

this outbreak is like none in the past, since  it was first detected

in December 2019, within months, it eroded our normal ways of life,

confined us within our respective borders, bringing our economies to a

virtual standstill and triggering a possible recession for the year;

“As at 24th May, the sub-region has recorded over 29,000 confirmed

cases with over 11,000 recoveries and sadly, above 600 deaths. These

are not mere numbers or statistics of physical things but of human

beings, citizens of West Africa whose lives were cut short by this

rampaging virus;

“As I empathize with all citizens as we all are directly or remotely

affected, the pain and agony of these needless loss of lives cannot be

fully expressed by me on behalf of the Parliament, but rest assured of

our constant support and prayers for the healing of the world and

particularly, our beloved sub-region”.

Continuing on the effort made so far Sidie said, “nonetheless, on what

ECOWAS is doing, I am well aware that the ECOWAS Commission and the

West African Health Organization (WAHO), two of our sister

institutions have initiated various responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

in Member States;

“These responses include the provision of training and essential

supplies to strengthen the public health systems in Member States in

order to foster the fight against the spread of the scourge;

“On our part, the 5th Legislature shall play it role towards the

ECOWAS’ post COVID-19 recovery response strategies by collaborating

with and enacting policies to support sister institutions in the

execution of COVID-19 related programs for the benefit of the citizens

of the sub-region” Sidie stated.