By Mathew Dadiya
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday in Accra, urged leaders of the Economic Community of West African States to consider the welfare of the vulnerable citizens of Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso who he described as the real victims of the unconstitutional power change.
According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President spoke at the 6th Extraordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State on the political situations in the three countries.
He expressed concern that since the last Summit of ECOWAS leaders on March 25, not much has been achieved in terms of having an acceptable timetable for the conduct of elections to restore democratic rule in the affected countries.
President Buhari warned that the security situation in both Mali and Burkina Faso has reached alarming levels with incessant attacks by extremist groups on the civilian populace and military facilities, aggravating the humanitarian condition in the two countries.
‘‘The deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Mali and Burkina Faso should be a source of serious concern to us as leaders in the region. As you may be aware, the world is still recovering from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which wrecked the global economy.
‘‘While our economies begin to recover, the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine has led to a surge in prices of many commodities including foodstuffs.
‘‘We are, therefore, left with no option but to devise means of sustaining our economies by becoming more creative and evolving in finding other channels of demand and supply, in order to ensure that we cushion the effect of the war and prevent our economies from collapsing, and our people remain productive.
‘‘We must, therefore, ensure that, in whatever decision we take, we must remember the mass of the populations in the affected countries, who are victims of the unconstitutional change of government and the adverse consequences of isolation brought about,’’ he said.
Consequently, he called on the Authority to revisit the report presented by former President Goodluck Jonathan, the ECOWAS Mediator on Mali, on a transition timetable for the West African country.
He also noted that Jonathan had recommended 16 months transitional timeframe ‘‘as well as his further personal appeal and observation to us to give the military leadership in Mali up to 18 months for the conduct of election, starting from March 2022.’’
