CALABAR – A stakeholders retreat on ECOWAS opened in Calabar Monday with a call on the Federal Government to critically evaluate its participation and commitment in relation to impacts on national interest.
Dr Nuruddeen Mohammad, the Minister of State II for Foreign Affairs and Supervising Minister for Information and National Orientation, made the call as he declared open the three-day retreat at Tinapa Lakeside Hotel.
He said that it was important for Nigeria to re-strategise on how best to remain constructively engaged and elicit the respect commensurate with the country’s huge resource commitment to ECOWAS.
He described the retreat as epoch-making and an assemblage of highly respected Nigerians to consider a critical aspect of Nigeria’s national endeavour and the collective well-being of ECOWAS citizens.
Recalling the vision of ECOWAS founding fathers in in establishing the organisation in May 1975, Muhammad said ECOWAS remained a veritable platform for economic integration in the sub-region
He said the vision was based on the need for member states to pull their resources together in order to become competitive and have comparative advantage in the global economic affairs.
He said the ultimate goal of the founding fathers of ECOWAS was that of accelerating and maximising the economic, social and political development of the sub-region. (NAN)
