President Bola Tinubu and his Ghanaian counterpart, President John Dramani Mahama, on Thursday, reaffirmed their shared commitment to fostering sustained dialogue between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the breakaway Sahelian nations of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
The two leaders met behind closed-doors at the State House in Abuja, where they discussed regional security, economic cooperation, and the need for continued diplomatic engagement with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which severed ties with ECOWAS following military takeovers.
President Tinubu, who chairs the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, praised President Mahama for his proactive efforts in bridging the divide and advancing the bloc’s mission of regional integration and stability.
“I feel good that he is here in the first place, and I am indeed very happy with the efforts he has made to have a bridge between the AES countries and ECOWAS,” Tinubu stated.
Emphasising the importance of inclusive diplomacy, President Tinubu said the true beneficiaries of dialogue must be the ordinary citizens of the affected countries, not just political actors.
“It’s not a bad idea for us because of the security situation in the Sahel region and the economic opportunities we must embark on to ensure the security of lives and prosperity of our citizens,” he said.
“The innocent people in this episode are the citizens of those countries, not much about us, the leadership. The citizens must be the first beneficiaries and the first point of reason together.”
President Mahama, who recently embarked on a diplomatic tour of the Sahelian states on behalf of ECOWAS, briefed President Tinubu on his engagements in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, noting the delicate nature of the crisis.
“I came to thank him for the honour done me during my inauguration and also to brief him on the visits to the Sahelian countries—Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—and to bring him up to date with some of the issues,” Mahama said.
While acknowledging the complexities involved in reconciling the regional bloc with the military-led governments, Mahama stressed that dialogue remains the most viable pathway to regional harmony.
“Well, it’s a complicated situation, and it’s not as easy as we might think,” he noted. “We just need to continue to dialogue and see how we can continue to cooperate together.”
