By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The newly inaugurated first female Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Rt. Hon. Maimunatu Ibrahima, has vowed to strengthen the communication division of ECOWAS Parliament, as part of her renewed effort to reposition the Parliament.
The Speaker who made this pledge in her inaugural speech, also said, the Legislature will have to put in place an effective communication policy and strategies that will enable it to lend a listening ear to the people on a permanent basis, and to better disseminate Community acts adopted by Parliament.
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She explained: “It’s one thing to successfully accomplish one’s mission, but it’s another to make it known and, above all, to make the outcome available to the beneficiaries. This means that our Legislature will have to put in place an effective communication policy and strategies that will enable it to lend a listening ear to the people on a permanent basis, and to better disseminate Community acts adopted by Parliament. For this reason, national delegations will be called upon to lead feedback sessions on the work of the ECOWAS Parliament in their national parliaments. We will also strengthen our partnership with media professionals in Member States. We will consider organising interactive activities between Members of the ECOWAS Parliament and the populations of member countries.
“As you can see, the mandate given us is a weighty but very exciting one, since it’s all about serving the community to ensure its prosperity and development. We have willingly chosen to be on this battlefront. Therefore, let us join forces beyond our differences in order to remain faithful to our commitments and make our Legislature indelibly etched in history. Let us resolutely get to work to produce concrete and useful results for ECOWAS. Dear fellow Members of Parliament and dedicated members of Parliament’s administrative staff, I know I can count on your efforts, your contributions, your effective presence at our deliberations and, above all, your determination throughout this Legislature. Your passion, dedication and commitment to achieving the objectives of Parliament will enable us to make ECOWAS an ECOWAS of Peoples, where peace, security and prosperity will prevail for all”.
Ibrahima also averred that despite the tremendous work of her predecessors and the enormous contributions of Parliament to the development of the ECOWAS populations, the region is still bedevilled by numerous political, economic and security crises in several Member States.
The most serious of these crises, the Speaker said, include the resurgence of coups d’etat, tensions resulting from peoples’ desire for self-determination, high unemployment among West African youth, climate change and the resurgence of terrorist attacks in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
This, she noted, prompted the adoption in 2020 of the ECOWAS Vision 2050 by the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
“This Vision 2050, which succeeds Vision 2020, requires us to focus our efforts on the following five pillars: – Peace, security and stability; – Governance and rule of law; – Economic integration and inter-connectivity; -Transformation, inclusive and sustainable development and – Social inclusion. These are the pillars that inspired the development of the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan and 2024 Activity Plan of the ECOWAS Parliament, which we have validated”.
She said that as MPs, they have a weighty responsibility to shoulder, and they must be aware of this and remain fully faithful to their commitments.
She added that that is why they need to work together, with wisdom, rigor and determination to meet the major challenges that lie ahead.
The Speaker equally pointed out that the first challenge is to continue to improve the image and functioning of Parliament in order to make it a respected and admired institution.
“Indeed, we must succeed in inspiring respect, consideration and admiration through our individual and collective dedication, and through the quality and relevance of our work and resolutions,” she concluded.
