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| Last Updated: Jan 19th, 2012 - 11:25:19 |
Speeches
Acceptance speech by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on the re-election of Nigeria as Chairman of ECOWAS
Feb 17, 2010, 15:37
| | Acceptance speech by His Excellency Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCON, Acting President, C-in-C of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the occasion of the re-election of Nigeria as Chairman of ECOWAS at the 37th Summit of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Abuja, February 16, 2010
PROTOCOL,
1. Today, on behalf of Nigeria , I accept the Chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States and wish to express my sincere appreciation to you all for Nigeria ’s re-election as Chairman of ECOWAS for yet another one year.
2. Nigeria ’s re-election is a reaffirmation of your faith and confidence on my country and my humble self despite the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Let me therefore assure you that our circumstances notwithstanding, Nigerians remain strong and unwavering in their belief in Nigeria ’s future, its unity and progress.
3. I also wish to assure you of our continued commitment and our preparedness to work with each and every one of you for the advancement of our common cause especially in creating a region of peace, democracy and development. This is a challenge we face and this is a challenge we must confront in order to meet the hopes and aspirations of our peoples.
4. In each of these, we have made some significant progress but a lot more remain to be accomplished. We must not relent in our collective efforts to make our sub-region an oasis of peace and tranquility. Under Nigeria ’s leadership, we must continue to work assiduously for peace and security in the sub-region. Individually and collectively, we should resolve today and stand ready to assist any member state that is threatened by forces of destabilization.
5. Your Excellencies, the drive for democratization must continue unhindered as it guarantees peace, security and opportunities for development. We owe it as a responsibility to our peoples to open up the political space and allow them to select or elect their leaders. Their will we must respect at all times. ECOWAS must therefore continue vigorously in its efforts to ensure free and fair election throughout the sub-region. On behalf of ECOWAS, I appeal to all leaders where elections are due to take place in the coming months to exercise restraint and conduct their campaigns in such a way that elections do not end or generate new crisis of instability in our sub-region.
6. As an organization created to pursue the integration of the sub-region, through collective development, there can be no better time especially in the face of new global economic changes to seriously renew our commitment and focus on how to accelerate the economic integration of our sub-region.
7. I am convinced that our integration can indeed be put on the fast lane when we deepen and expand the free movement of peoples, goods and services and when we focus on the development of integration infrastructure especially transport and communication. From the perspective of economics of scale, the whole sub-region stands to benefit from such a focus as it will lead to the collective growth of our economies and our survival. There is also no doubt, that we stand a better chance in meeting the challenges posed by the fast developing changes in the global economy.
8. Under Nigeria ’s Chairmanship, these will be our main focus. Our desire and aspiration is to work with each and every one of you to improve on the already high standard of the Commission. We must endeavour to continuously make ECOWAS responsive to the desires of the peoples of our sub-region. We must not fail.
9. Thank you and God bless.
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