The Vice President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stressed the need for African Countries to amalgamate forces in countering the issue of terrorism in the region, the African Continent and the World at large. Speaking on October 10, 2024, to a group of ECOWAS Early Warning Field Monitors as well as staff of Member States National Center for the Coordination of Response Mechanism (NCCRM) and staff of West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) at the ECOWAS Commission Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, Madam Demtien L. Tchintchibidja, the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission emphasized that it is only through collaboration that ECOWAS nations can solve the security problems the region is faced with. “Terrorism has no face, it has no boundary, no nationality and God forbid if anything were to happen to all of us sitting in this room, nobody will be spared. So, we have to understand that as a region, as a family, and as citizens of this region, we must take that into consideration when we are talking about politics,” the ECOWAS Vice President noted. Madam Tchintchibidja emphasized that it is only through regional strategies that “we will have to implement to tackle and eradicate terrorism in the region and the continent at large. She expressed dissatisfaction not seeing all 15 member states sitting at the same table to discuss issues relating to the growth and development of the region. However, she disclosed that a lot is being done in order to make sure that all 15 member states are sitting at the same table, citing, “It is quite unfortunate that we find ourselves in a situation where some of our brothers and sisters are missing from this discussion within the context of early warning or any other technical or decision making body here at the ECOWAS,”. She added: “A lot is being done, there is a lot of underground diplomacy, that is taking place but unfortunately I am not able to provide you with all of the information, but it is a work in progress,” Meanwhile, the ECOWAS official pointed out that more can be done to curb the current security challenges of the region, adding that together Africans are stronger. The ECOWAS Executive assured the public that one way or the other, West Africans will definitely find a way to sit down and sort out their differences because there is always an African solution to an African problem. She highlighted that looking at the current reality on the ground, the region is faced with security challenges and no individual country can pretend that it can single handedly tackle and eradicate terrorism. Also, she asserted that even if three member’s states were to leave, it is on the political front, but it is impossible for those member states to be completely separated from the rest of the region on grounds that countries in the region are joined by porous borders with cross border relationships and trading activities. Madam Tchintchibidja indicated that people can’t be stopped from continuing to speak the same language across borders because of politics, noting that West Africans will not be divided but they will continue to be strong once they prioritize collaboration. Source: LINA