December 16, (THEWILL) – The President of the Economic Community of West African States Commission, Dr Omar Touray announced, during the 66th Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held on Sunday at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that Nigeria, for the first time in 19 years, had fully met its financial obligations to ECOWAS.
Touray said Nigeria paid N84 billion and 54 million US dollars, which is 100 percent of the country’s ECOWAS community levy for 2023 extending to July 2024.
He described the payment of the levy as a historic milestone in Nigeria’s commitment to regional integration and development, as well as a vote of confidence in ECOWAS’s vision and ongoing reforms.
Expressing his appreciation for the gesture, Touray said, “This payment underscores the leadership and commitment of President Bola Tinubu and the people of Nigeria to the ECOWAS community. At a more personal level, it underscores a mark of confidence in the ECOWAS that I have been privileged to lead since 2022. My colleagues are deeply grateful.”
The gesture, which reaffirms Nigeria’s position as a commitment to ECOWAS, did not come as a surprise to other member states of the regional body and well meaning individuals who have been closely following events in the community.
As a founding member of ECOWAS, Nigeria has always played a key role towards the realisation of the organisation’s primary objectives and in its initiatives aimed at fostering political stability, economic integration and security within the region.
By fulfilling its financial obligations to ECOWAS, Nigeria sets an example to other states and encourages them to continue to uphold the principles on which the organisation was founded.
ECOWAS is clearly on the cusp of change and it needs more of the kind of response and attitude that Nigeria has demonstrated to sustain its goals. It needs more support, the kind that only committed states in the mold of Nigeria can provide.
Nigeria may well be on the way to reclaiming its leadership position in Africa and this is just an indication that it will eventually. We join the ECOWAS in applauding President Tinubu for the gesture.
