By Augustine Ehikioya
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, on Wednesday charged all Chiefs of Defence Staff (CDS) in the ECOWAS sub-region to support democracy in their countries.
According to him, recent Military coups in some countries have resulted in unexpected consequences in the region.
The trend, he pointed out, has threatened democratic values in the sub-region.
General Musa spoke in Abuja during the 42nd Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of the CDS. It was covered by Security Watch Africa (SWA).
He said “Recent challenges, like the Military coup in some countries have unintended consequences and have threatened our collective democratic values.
“This trend must be discouraged as it negates our core responsibility as military professionals.
“As democratic countries, we the Military must uphold democratic values in line with our various constitutions.
“I’m also optimistic that this meeting will assist us to prevent such abnormalities while strengthening our collective resolve to bring about peace and sustainable development to our region,” Gen Musa stated.
He said that the meeting demonstrated the collective drive to address the various security threats affecting the region through deliberate and concerted efforts.
Gen Musa listed the security threats including terrorism, insurgency, organized crimes, and recent unconstitutional take over of government.
“As leaders in our respective Armed Forces, we are all aware of the threats that confront our nations and the region.
“These challenges not only threaten our individual national security, but also undermine the social fabric and social economic development of the entire region,” he stated.
Continuing, he said “The complexity of the security landscape demands that we leverage our collective expertise, share intelligence and coordinate our efforts across borders if we must solve these challenges.
“Thus, collaboration is paramount and I encourage you to address both the root cause and symptoms of insecurity in our region,” he said.
To this end, he said, the agenda of the meeting was crafted to focus on critical areas arising from previous engagements.
The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, said that joint efforts against the complex security challenges in the region is inevitable to ensure peace and development in the region.
“This provides us a crucial platform to address the security challenges we face in our sub-region, strategize on the best approaches to ensure peace and stability in West Africa,” he stated.
The Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, ECOWAS, Ambassador Abel-Fatau Musah, noted that the hosting of the meeting was delayed due to the acute political developments in the region, coups, announced withdrawal of the Alliance of Sahel States from our community.
This development, he said, required extra-ordinary sessions of the committee, at least one meeting per annum.
“The convening of this ordinary session has therefore become important as it will allow us review the important security environment with a view to repositioning the recent political architecture and critical to adequately respond to the emergencies before us,” he said.
The meeting, according to him, is also to take stock of the implementation of the decisions of the 41st Ordinary meeting in order to device a forward-looking agenda for peace and security in West Africa.
He expressed apologies of the ECOWAS Commission to the gallant Armed Forces and the CDS for the abrupt termination of the deployment and ECOWAS force in Niger Republic.
The decision, he said, was necessitated by a more careful review of the dynamics within the region and the continent.
He said that the threats have continued to undermine security in the ECOWAS sub-region.
Thanking President Bola Tinubu for hosting the meeting, he noted that Nigeria has always been a leader of the sub-region, adding “all the great successes that the region has achieved in terms of stabilization in 1989, 1990 in Sierra Leone, in Liberia, Cote d’Voire, Guinea Bissau.”
On his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, said that the meeting is a further testament to the commitment of the committee to the peace and security of the sub-region.
He harped on the need for the CDS Committee to deeply reflect on the rapidly evolving complex security situation in the region.
“Your strategies, decisions and actions are vital in determining our security landscape.” he stated.
The coups in some countries in the region, according to him, have brought to the fore the fragile nature of democratic institutions in the sub-region.
He said that there is urgent need for coordinated responses to reverse the security challenges.
Stressing that the movement of illegal small arms and light weapons in the sub-region has reached an alarming level, he charged the committee develop mechanisms to complement the existing ECOWAS Conventions on small arms and light weapons to effectively prevent their further proliferation.
He also emphasised on the use of non-kinetic approaches to complement the kinetic efforts to reverse the security challenges in the region.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence and former Senate President, Ahmad Lawal, urged for actions that will ensure return of democracy in the member nations where it has been truncated.
He also called for meetings of parliamentarians in the sub-region to address issues in the region and place security on the front burner.
“We the National Parliament, the National Assembly of Nigeria, have remained committed in supporting the Armed Forces of the government of Nigeria to ensure that necessary and needed resources and to be required by ECOWAS, as far as Nigeria is concerned, are provided and approved.
“We will continue to do that because we believe there is need for collective safety.
“We may have internal challenges within our nations, but we are also bonded together by strong security challenges. We need support of each other.
“We need to ensure that democracy continues in our entire region,” he stated.
He thanked ECOWAS for giving President Bola Tinubu second term as its Chairman.
The Minister of Interior, Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, while stressing on room for improvement, commended the CDS Committee for their efforts in the relative stability in the region.
“We are not where we were, but of course, we are not where we ought to be. We are trusting this meeting to make far-reaching decisions that will further enhance internal security of the various countries and the ECOWAS as a regional body,” he said
According to him, the battle for the eradication of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is very key for internal security.
