Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, has requested the United Nations assistance, including other development partners in solving problematic issues in the West African region.
The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mustapha Cisse Lo, made the call in Liberia during a courtesy visit by members of the ECOWAS Parliament to the United Nations Diplomatic Corps in Liberia.
Cisse Lo noted the significant role the ECOWAS parliament has played overtime in ensuring peace and stability within the region.
The speaker further said the parliament was strongly engaged in all areas that had to do with the wellbeing of Africans, beginning with the supervision of various elections of the 15 countries of West Africa and also controlling the good government in the various countries.
“The ECOWAS Parliament has done so much to solve current problems faced in West Africa, what I am asking of our partners is a support that will enable parliamentarians carry out their task successfully.
“We have competent parliamentarians with great qualities who are capable, ready to work with the aim of making impact across the region and also ready to defend the people of the community. The support from the international community will help us, therefore, in ensuring that the various problems we face in the region are solved,” Cisse Lo said.
Cisse Lo further appeal to the United Nations to assist the region in order to realise its lofty dream.
“We invite you people with our humble mind to bring your support to ECOWAS states. We need your help so that we can realize our dream and actualise our goals in West Africa, and also to make West Africa be a land of development,” Cisse Lo also said.
Also speaking, a member of the Nigerian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Honourable Sodiq Ibrahim, lamented that the West African region is the poorest region on earth.
Ibrahim added that the reason was that the Europeans do not assist the region in curbing the smuggling of small arms and light weapons into the region.
“We cannot go to farms, we cannot go about carrying out trade and other occupations on our road simply because of attacks with these weapons that African countries do not manufacture,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim, however, called for sanction of companies in Europe that import the affected items to non-state actors in Africa.
“The smuggling of this item is making us poorer, and making us by force to cross the Sahara and making us by force to cross the Mediterranean, where we become victims of some of the action of European imperialism.
“We need to act with strength in order to address this crisis which has made citizens of our regions victims in their own country,” Ibrahim added.