An Open Letter To President Akuffo Addo,
Chairman Of The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS)

It is just not enough for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders to swiftly come together and pronounce the suspension of Mali from the bloc.

I think it is high time our sub-regional leaders wake up to the reality in each members’ states.

It is also imperative to say without any fear or regret that many of the leaders within this bloc are not worthy of the positions they are occupying due to their abysmal performance and the insecurity, hatred and disunity within their ECOWAS states.

I want to urge the leadership and the managers of ECOWAS body to swiftly call for an urgent meeting such as the one that was held in Accra Ghana on Sunday, 30thMay 2021 to address the insecurity, unemployment and lack of press freedom in many countries that form ECOWAS bloc and not only be active when they need to protect one of them as against the pains of the masses of ECOWAS.

We need a reform of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) where the citizens of the member states are treated with respect, dignity, honour and a bloc where the leaders and politicians will have respect for the treaties and agreements they all signed unto.

I will at least give kudos to the Francophone countries in terms of respect they have for their fellow citizens in each of their countries unlike the Anglophone countries.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should be proactive and stand up to its expectation and not just a social club for the sitting Presidents, the leaders should do away with some of their inhumane policies and hidden agenda for the citizens of each member state.

The aims of ECOWAS is to promote cooperation and integration to raise the living standards of its peoples, and to maintain and enhance economic stability, foster relations among member states, and contribute to the progress and development of the African continent, with insecurity many member states and the extra judicial killings in the Southern Eastern part of Nigeria, rampant kidnappings and killings of innocent students in the Northern Nigeria and closure of many countries borders including the Ghana and Nigeria borders are signs “cold war” among the member states in which the ordinary citizens are made to suffer the outcome.

What is happening in Mail is also as a result of failure on the part of the leaders and elders to uphold sound morality in society and moral decadence among the political and military classes which is not synonymous to the Mali state, but to all African countries.

Nepotism, injustice and lack of respect for the constitutions of many countries are the bane of the disunity, unrest and the insecurity that we are experiencing today in most of the ECOWAS states.

Changing constitution to elongate the tenure of a sitting President after the two terms duration stipulated by the constitution is nothing, but fraud and dishonesty in which many of our youths are learning from.

I want to propose the bloc, that the Service Chiefs, Speakers of Parliaments and the Head of the Senates in any country where their constitution is violated should be held responsible.

 
It is high time our elected Parliamentarians should stop behaving like rubber stamps and be active for the sake of humanity.

 
Our leaders should be calling for a summit and seminar on how we can take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement for the betterment, development and the growth of our bloc so that the ideas of AfCFTA will not become a curse to our region, but a blessing.

I hope President Akuffo Addo of Ghana the current head of ECOWAS will as a matter of urgency invite his counterparts again to Ghana for a pragmatic and sincere summit in Accra where the wellbeing and welfare of the citizens of the ECOWAS bloc will be discussed and agree upon for us to remember his leadership after his tenure as ECOWAS Chairman.

By: Amb. Oloye Oyeyemi Fatuyi FIIM (Nigerian Businessman)