Ekweremadu Tasks Liberian President on Stability and Democracy
Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has urged the re-elected President of Liberia, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson to work towards the consolidation of the peace, stability and democratic growth achieved in the West African country.
Senator Ekweremadu who spoke at the opening of the Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, congratulated the people and government of Liberia, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, and the entire Community for the peaceful conduct of the presidential and parliamentary election in the country.
He said the Community Parliament was encouraged by the feat as a sign that democracy and stability was gaining ground and therefore tasked President Sirleaf to be “magnanimous and focused in victory, knowing that the greatest victory would be to hand over a more peaceful, democratic, and prosperous Liberia at the end of her tenure.”
Ekweremadu said the Extraordinary Session would afford the Parliament the opportunity to examine some of fundamental Referrals from the ECOWAS Commission bordering on air transport, telecommunications, and e-learning.
The Referral on air transport, he said, was critical to promoting free movement of people, goods, and services by addressing vital issues like landing rights, airspace management, compensation of passengers for missed flights and lost luggage. The Referral on telecommunications, he also noted, was geared towards interstate cooperation in removing legal and policy impediments to the development of the sector through submarine cable infrastructure, while the Referral on e-learning was aimed at making education more easier and accessible by aligning the Community’s educational methods with global best practices.
The Speaker further underscored the import of synergy between the Community Parliament and the Commission, especially towards the realization of the noble programmes of the regional body as well as the ECOWAS Vision 2020 whose main agenda is the transformation of ECOWAS from ECOWAS of States to ECOWAS of people.
He therefore said the Extraordinary Session would be primarily dedicated to interactions between the two institutions. He explained that such interactions would in turn equip the Parliamentarians with the necessary information to market ECOWAS programmes to their various constituencies.
Meanwhile, ECOWAS sectoral Commissioners in charge of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources; Administration and Finance; Infrastructure; Trade Customs and Movement of Persons; Gender and Human Development as well as Macroeconomic Policies have been scheduled to make presentations to the Community Parliament during the Extraordinary Session.
Uche Anichukwu is Special Adviser (Media) to the Deputy President of the Senate
