Osinbajo to speak at high-level dialogue on democratic governance in W/Africa

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to share perspectives on engendering democratic governance in West Africa at a high-level dialogue on Monday in Abeokuta, Ogun.

The Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA), organisers of the event, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said it was in furtherance to ongoing efforts by leaders across West Africa to contain threats to democracy in the region.

The event, which holds at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, will be hosted by the former president himself.

Osinbajo will deliver the keynote address while other participants comprising leaders across West Africa and Obasanjo, Chairperson of CoDA board of directors, will make contributions physically and virtually.

The vice president will be speaking on the theme: “Rising to the Challenge of Consolidating Democratic Governance.”

CoDA attributed the recent development in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso as part of its reasons for convening the high-level dialogue.

“It is this overarching concern that serves as the motivation for this high-level dialogue which is designed to bring together a group of West Africans to address a challenge which not only threatens a political regression in the sub-region but which might also threaten the viability of ECOWAS as a regional economic community.

“The dialogue is a joint endeavour to find ways of redressing the discontents of West African democratisation and achieving a democratic reset in the sub-region,” the statement said.

ECOWAS leaders had, at their meeting on March 25 in Accra, Ghana, deliberated on the political situations in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, and affirmed their commitment to democracy.(NAN)