Former Senate Leader, Distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, and Executive Secretary (ES) Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Jime, have described the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as a welcome development that is good for Nigeria and the West African Sub-region.
Tinubu on Sunday was elected the Chairman of ECOWAS at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the regional bloc in Guinea Bissau 41 days after his inauguration as Nigeria’s President.
The duo of Ndoma-Egba and Jime in their separate reactions to the election of the President as ECOWAS helmsman, expressed confidence that Tinubu will do Nigeria proud in the new assignment given to him at the regional level, while noting that his vast wealth of experience in governance and administrative expertise would indubitably come to bear on the regional body.
According to Ndoma-Egba, a former Chairman of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), “It is significant that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is assuming an important regional role so soon after his swearing-in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. By this role he is expected to give leadership to the West African Sub-region. And it’s a stepping stone into global politics. So, it is a very, very important and welcome development.
“President Tinubu has the capacity and intellectual resource to effectively lead the ECOWAS and work out ways to find solutions to the various challenges confronting the region. And from his inaugural address, I think he understands very clearly what the challenging issues of the region are.
“I wish him the best as he assumes regional leadership and as he becomes a world leader.”
On his part, Jime, the Shippers Council boss, said: “The President’s emergence as ECOWAS Chairman is recognition of Nigeria’s place in the sub region. It is in furtherance of the expectations of Nigeria’s role as trigger for economic prosperity of West Africa considering the size of our economy with a market of over 200m people.
“As head of ECOWAS, the President I believe will bring his considerable wealth of knowledge in economic management to bear on the sub region in readiness for our integration and participation in the emerging African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) such that our economic fortunes will be better enhanced. This is a welcome development and signposts the arrival of Nigeria at the commanding heights of Africa’s development.”
