Volume 15 – 2013

ECOWAS DELEGATION MEETS “MR. ECOWAS”

A delegation of the ECO-

WAS Commission has paid a cour-tesy call on Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, Nigeria’s former Minister of Eco-nomic Develop-ment and the

longest serving head of the Unit-ed Nations Eco-nomic Commis-sion for Africa (UNECA), who played a pivotal role in the formation of ECOWAS through the Treaty of Lagos on 28th

May 1975. At the head of the delegation on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission to Prof Adedeji’s Ijebu-Ode home town in south-western Nigeria on 4th June 2013, was Vice President Dr. Toga Gayewea McIntosh, who was also accompanied by Prof. Sam K.B. Asante, Ghana’s re-nowned political economist. In what turned out to be a nostalgic reunion between the Adedejis and two men who worked very closely with him at various times, Prof Adedeji went down memory

lane on his motivation and conviction in the power of co-operation and integration as the key to development of post-independent Africa. The former Nigerian Minister who has been variously described as “a development pioneer,” “an African Cassan-dra,” “a master strategist,” and even a “rebel technocrat,” said he saw and still see cooperation and integration as the only option for Africa to overcome linguistic, political and economic barriers which the continent inherited from its colonial history. He recalled the “shuttle diplomacy” to various capitals in the sub-region in his days as Minister (1971-75) soon after Nigeria’s civil war, and the critical roles played by Nigeria’s former leader General Yakubu Gowon and his Togolese counterpart Gnassingbé Eyadéma in the for-mation of ECOWAS. Prof Adedeji, who was mentioned in a 2006 publication

as one of the world’s 50 influential thinkers on develop-ment, was to take his integration campaign to the UNECA in Addis Ababa serving as Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary for 16 years (1975-91). His dynamism under the UNECA platform resulted in the creation of two more Regional Economic Communities (RECs) - the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in 1981 and 1983, respectively. Prof Adedeji will also be remembered for his other

unique initiatives such as the Lagos Plan of Action (1980), and the Final Act of Lagos (1980).

When the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was foisted on hapless so-called developing and least de-veloped nations - many of which are in Africa – by the World Bank and the IMF, Prof Adedeji and his fellow Pan-Africanist thinkers did not only raise an alarm but devel-oped the African Alternative Framework to Structural Ad-justment Programme (AAF-SAP, 1989) followed by the Af-rican Charter for Popular Participation (ACPP, 1990), as legendary blue prints for the continent’s home-grown de-velopment and governance paradigms. Although all the ideals of ECOWAS founding fathers might not have been met, Prof Adedeji is happy that citi-zens of the 15 Member States see themselves today as

belonging to one community. “This is the only region in Africa where citizens can visit and stay in a country other than their own for at least 90 days without a visa,” he affirmed, in a reference to ECOWAS’ flagship Protocol on Free Movement of Per-sons, Rights of Residence and Establishment. Moving forward, Prof Adedeji called on ECOWAS Mem-ber States to work toward the harmonization of policies, laws and regulations to consolidate regional integration. Dr. McIntosh, Liberia’s former Foreign Minister with a long history of involvement in Africa’s development initia-tives, said the courtesy visit was a tribute to Prof Adedeji’s total commitment and contributions to regional and conti-nental integration, as he turns 83 in December and as ECOWAS looks forward to its 40th Anniversary in 2015. The Commission Vice President’s delegation to Ijebu-Ode included Mr. Paul Ejime of the Communication Di-rectorate and Mr. Wilfred Ewaleifoh, head of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) crew, gathering materials for the production a Special Documentary, part of initiatives lined up to signpost the evolution of ECOWAS, its man-date, achievements and challenges over the past four dec-ades.

AFRICAN EXPERTS URGED TO RECOMMEND IMPLEMENTABLE

PLAN FOR CONTINENTAL ROADS AND ROAD SAFETY

A frican road infrastructure and road safety experts have been urged to recommend "pragmatic and im-

plementable action plans" for achieving an "ambitious" plan to harmonise the standards for the Trans African

Highway and improve road safety. The experts are scheduled to validate the intergovernmental agreement on the trans-African Highway and a road safety charter dur-ing a three day work-shop which opened

on Tuesday, 4th June 2013 in Accra, Ghana's capital.

(l-r); Dr. McIntosh, Prof. Adedeji and Prof. Asante

ECOWAS Bulletin Volume 15 3rd - 9th JUNE, 2013

Mr. David Kamara

The 57,233 km Trans-African Highway network con-nects the capitals of Member States and the main produc-

tion and consumption centres in order to promote greater physical, social, political and economic cohesion among the peoples of the continent. "It is my humble wish that this validation workshop comes up with pragmatic and implementable action plan

for achieving this ambitious yet important task," ECOWAS Commission President, His Excellency Kadre Desire Ouédraogo said at the opening of the workshop. The ECOWAS boss pledged the Commission’s support for the plan reflecting the region’s appreciation of the value of such infrastructure for realising its mandate and the need to ensure its protection. In this regard, he said that ECOWAS has taken the lead by adopting in 2012, a Supplementary Act to harmonise standards and procedures for the control of dimensions, weight and axle load of heavy vehicles within Member States. “When fully implemented, this Act is expected, to protect investments made with the construction of our road infra-structure and reduce traffic fatalities," the President said in the speech read by Mr David Kamara, the Director of Transport and Telecommunications at the Commission. In an earlier speech, the Director of Infrastructure and Energy at the AU Commission, Mr Aboubakari Baba-Moussa said the ongoing process was in response to a 2011 decision by African minsters of transport in Luanda for the institution of a mechanism for addressing the two issues.

Describing the workshop as constituting "an important occasion of responsibility and commitment for leading our continent on a resolute path towards inclusive transfor-mation and credible development," the Director said the

outcome will be presented to the ministers of transport meeting to be held in Malabo in November 2013.The intergovernmental Agreement on the standards and norms will also guide the transport sector projects under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Besides improving road safety in the Continent where the value

of losses associated with road traffic accidents is about 2 per cent of the continent’s GDP, the Charter is also ex-

pected to result in the creation of a road safety architecture that will address all the components of road safety being education, engineering, enforcement, Environment and Emergency Care as well as the creation of a data base of accidents.

The government of Ghana was represented at the open-ing by Mr Nii Nikoi Amasa, ,the Corporate Monitoring Man-ager of the country's harbour authority, who ,stressed the value of the documents to improving Africa's road infra-structure and saving valuable lives and assured of Ghana’s commitment to implement the documents once adopted.

ECOWAS CANVASSES GREATER SUPPORT FOR ITS CONFLICT

PREVENTION INITIATIVES

T he ECOWAS Com-mission has called

for strong support for the operationalization of its conflict preven-tion framework, the ECPF, as a major tool for addressing the proximate and struc-tural causes of violent conflicts and the pro-motion of human secu-rity and peace building in the region. Addressing a Retreat of Focal Persons on Natural Re-source Governance and Enabling Mechanism Components of the ECPF in Lagos on Thursday 6th June 2013, the ECO-WAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, told participants that the Framework adopted in 2008 “is a product of critical analysis of multifarious perspectives of conflict dynamics in the region, consistent cross-cutting of ideas and wide-

ranging consultations among experts, academics, practi-tioners, civil society and governmental actors within ECO-WAS Member States.” The Commission, with the support of the Danish Inter-

national Development Agency (DANIDA) has already devel-oped detailed implementation plans for 13 of the 15 Compo-nents of the ECPF relating to the key immediate and struc

ECOWAS Bulletin 3rd - 9th June, 2013 Volume 15/2013 2

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION, ECOWAS COMMISSION ; 101 YAKUBU GOWON CRESCENT, ASOKORO, ABUJA-FCT. NIGERIA Tel: (234-9) 314 7641/314 7647/ 314 4227-9 Fax: (234-9) 314 3005/ 314 7641 Email: [email protected], Website: www.ecowas.int

Dr. Musah with Mrs. Suleiman

A group photograph of Participants at the meeting

(l-r); Mr. Nii Nikoi Amasah, representing the Minister of Roads & Highways, Mrs. Marie-Theresa Guibo, United Nations Eco-

nomic Community of Africa (UNECA), Mr. Abubakari Baba-Mousa, Director for Infrastructure & Energy (AU) with Mr. Jean

Noel Guillossou, Sub-Saharan African Transport Policy (SSATP)

tural causes of conflicts such as political govern-ance, the security sector and hu-man rights. The

Lagos Retreat of the relevant Directorates of the Commis-sion has been convened therefore, to complete the process by developing the Plans of Action for the Natural Resource Governance and the accompanying Enabling Mechanism, with the help of consultants and civil society experts.

Commissioner Suleiman urged the participants “to ana-lyze the broad areas covered by the ECPF vis-à-vis their mandates, and collectively agree on implementable activi-ties for the next three years.” They should also reflect on the expected outcomes of the activities and agree on follow-up coordination, in order to deepen ownership of the process within the Commission’s Directorates and foster the spirit of cooperation and coordi-nation, to effectively facilitate its implementation in Mem-ber States. She urged the Directorates working on the enabling mechanism to see the components as the “lynchpin, the anchor of the entire implementation process and the ena-blers, expected to drive the efficiency and effectiveness of implementation.” The Commissioner disclosed that as a follow-up to the Retreat, a mapping exercise with development partners is being planned to hold in the next few weeks during which partners are expected to make their concrete support for specific activities within the Priority Matrices. This exercise, she said, would lead to a “clarification of funding and coordination procedures most appro-

priate for driving the ECPF process and proactive strategy for extending implementation to Members States and Civil Society levels.” The Commissioner expressed the hope that the funding for the three-year plan estimated at US$22 million could be mobilized quickly with support from development partners. She commended DANIDA, which has already indicated its readiness to support the process through the 3rd Phase of its Africa Programme for Peace (APP).

Mrs. Suleiman reaffirmed the commitment of the ECOWAS Commission’s management “to pro-ductive collaboration and cooperation” in the im-plementation of the ECPF. Among its objectives, the three-day Retreat is expected to agree Priority Programmes of the ECPF Components for the period 2013-2015; aggregate data, programmes and activities into the Priority Matrices; finalize and adopt the filled-in Matrices

and agree on the coordination mechanism for the imple-mentation of the adopted Matrices, particularly the identifi-cation of a lead Directorate for each component.

MINISTER LAUDS ECOWAS TRADITIONAL WRESTLING

TOURNAMENT

N iger’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon-

ourable Kounou Hassane has described the ECOWAS Tradi-tional Wrestling Tournament, (TOLAC), as a platform for showcasing Africa’s rich cul-tural values. Speaking at the opening

ceremony of the 9th edition of the tournament in Niamey on 6th June 2013, the Minister traced the principles of tradi-tional wrestling to the values of tolerance, fraternity, friend-liness, solidarity, accord and courage, often displayed in

village squares, market places and African streets. He therefore called on both athletes and officials to bear these in mind so as to ensure the success of the year-ly competition that gathers traditional wrestlers from ECO-WAS Member States. In a message to the ceremony, the ECOWAS Commis-sioner for Human Development and Gender, Dr. Adrienne Diop, urged Member States to promote the capacity devel-opment of trainers and referees at the national level to complement the efforts of the ECOWAS Youth Sports and Development Centre (EYSDC) at ensuring the growth of African wrestling.


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(l-r); Mr. Njoaguani, Hon. Hassane with

Mr. Assane

A group photograph of participants at the meeting

Scenes from the tournament

In the speech read by the EYSDC Director, Mr. Francis Njoaguani, the Commissioner also called on all stakeholders to em-brace the Commission’s passion for traditional sports by protecting the legacy of the game. The Deputy Governor and Deputy Mayor of Niamey, Messrs Oufana Moussa and Abba Dossou respectively, assured participants

on security and called for the ex-hibition of the spirit of unity for a successful tournament. The President of the Nigerien Wrestling Federation, Mr. Abdou-laye Assane, highlighted the bene-fits of traditional wrestling, in-cluding promotion of physical

fitness, competitiveness, fun, achievement, orderliness and sportsmanship. Wrestlers from the 13 participating Member States started preliminary group contests soon after the opening ceremo-ny, followed by preliminary individual bouts featuring 59 contestants, ahead of the finale on 8th June 2013.

TEAM SENEGAL WINS ECOWAS WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

S enegal dethroned defend-ing champions Niger at

the 9th edition of the ECOWAS Community Traditional Wres-tling Tournament which end-ed in Niamey on Saturday 8th June, 2013. The five-member team Senegal led by Mr. Fode Sarr beat their Niger counterparts to clinch the coveted gold tro-phy and 5-million FCFA prize money. Nigeria, third place winners of the 8th edition retained their position after beating Guinea Bissau 4-1 to clinch the bronze medal in the team event, which featured wrestlers in the 66kg, 76kg, 86kg, 100kg and 120kg weight categories. Niger and Nigeria got 3 million and 1.5 million FCFA

respectively, for their efforts, while all the members of the first, second and third placed teams received gold, silver

and bronze medals in that order. In the individual categories, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Nige-ria and the Gambia won gold in each of the five weight cat-egories. Each individual gold medalist went home with a cash prize of 1.25 million FCFA and a trophy, while second and

third place winners received 750,000 and 500,000 FCFA each. At the colourful closing ceremony, Niger’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, honourable Kounou Hassane handed the trophy to the victorious Senegalese team and praised their performance. He also commended the partici-pants and spectators for their good conducts during three-day regional event. Similarly, the Director of the ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (EYSDC), Mr. Francis Chuks Njoaguani, who presented the silver medals and cash prize to the Niger team, also lauded the team’s tenacity during the competition. Random doping tests were carried out for the first time during the 9th edition of the

tournament, which fea-tured 79 contestants. Dakar will host the next tournament from the 26th to 29th June 2013.

“ Those who sow thorns

should not expect reap

flowers.”

…… Swaziland..…..

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EDITORIAL TEAM Sunny Ugoh ** Ag. Director Communication Paul Ejime ** Editor Doscof Aho ** Internal Communication Officer Uwem Thompson ** Information Officer Amamata Sulaiman ** Information Graphics Officer David Oduyingbo ** Photos Sani Malgwi ** Photos

Champion Saliou Diouf of Senegal in a

headlock with Mr. Sabo Abdou Labo of

Niger

Documents

Volume 15 – 2013