The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, has raised the alarm over what he described as a crisis of democracy and security in the West African sub-region.
Speaking in Abuja at the second edition of the African Political Square and the Experts meeting on Alternative Futures for ECOWAS at 50 – jointly organized with the African Leadership Centre (ALC), in collaboration with Codesria and Wathi, Touray, who was represented by the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdufatah Musah, described the moment as one demanding “deep introspection and honest self-assessment.”
He said: “ECOWAS today faces a crisis of democracy and security. Manipulation of constitutions and exclusionary politics have become fashionable. Democracy is in crisis, and insecurity has worsened.”
He noted that the bloc’s history had passed through three phases: formation amid Cold War divisions, the peacekeeping era of the 1990s, and the current struggle with insecurity and governance.
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“It was visionary leadership that created ECOWAS in 1975,” he recalled. “At that time, bringing together francophone, anglophone, and lusophone states was itself a miracle. Now, after fifty years, we must ask whether we are still faithful to that vision.”
He warned that “external shocks and internal weaknesses” had combined to create a turning point for West Africa.
“The world is no longer bipolar; it is multipolar — even multicultural,” he said. “Countries now have choices based on their interests and values. West Africa must also choose between people-centred democracy and authoritarian regression.”
