Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Sunday charged his West African colleagues on the need to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force as a potent tool to crush terrorism in the sub-region.
“We must act decisively to operationalise the ECOWAS Standby Force on the fight against terrorism to serve as an instrument for peace and stability for our region,” Tinubu told West African leaders at the 67th ECOWAS Heads of State and Government Summit in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.
Tinubu stated this on his capacity as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government, shortly before he handed over to Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone.
He said Nigeria would continue to be committed to the peace, integration and economic prosperity of the sub-region.
He said no nation can address the challenges of terrorism and external security threats in the sub-region alone, hence the need to translate the ECOWAS Standby Force from concept to reality to serve as a regional counter-terrorism force.
Tinubu said he was worried over the slow pace of the force, which was supposed to be constituted with soldiers drawn from all ECOWAS member states.
“No single nation can address these challenges alone. We must strengthen coordination, amplify political will and prioritise a collective approach to security.
“This is why the ECOWAS Standby Force must move from the concept to operational reality now. I am a little bit worried about the slow pace of its activation, which is taking longer than desired.”
