Nigeria remains open to dialogue with Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger – Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu, on Saturday, declared that Nigeria remains open to dialogue and rebuilding ties with Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic, despite recent coups in the three countries and their decision to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Addressing African leaders at the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Tinubu, in a statement by Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, lamented the military takeovers that have undermined democracy in those West African nations.
However, he affirmed Nigeria’s willingness to talk in order to heal the rifts.
This is coming as the AU has flayed the menace of conflicts, which have weighed down the continent’s growth with terrorism destroying some of the states and reversing priorities through an increase in exorbitant military spending at the expense of vital social sectors.
President Tinubu affirmed that Africa’s success in conclusively 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.
He said: “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.”
Commenting on the military takeovers in the Republics of Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, and the exit of three of these nations from ECOWAS, the President said disagreements over the unconstitutional changes of government should not mean a permanent rupture of the abiding lines of regional affinity and cooperation.
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According to him: “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.
“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,” President Tinubu said.
