Heads of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, began their 63rd Ordinary Summit in Abuja yesterday without their counterparts from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who is the ECOWAS chairman, opened the meeting around 1:00 pm thanking his colleagues for the support he enjoyed from them in the last year.
Tinubu’s tenure as the ECOWAS chairman expires in the course of this particular meeting, as a new chair is to emerge on July 9, but he has one obvious task before he hands over to the next chairman.
The task is that of leading ECOWAS in talks over the three countries that have chosen to go their separate way.
The three only on Saturday, July 6, formally inaugurated their own group which they named Sahel Alliance.
The military rulers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger officially forged a new group during their meeting in Niamey, emphatically severing ties with ECOWAS a day before ECOWAS was to begin its own meeting.
This is in spite of the main focus of the ECOWAS summit being to discuss ways to pacify the rebelling three after several West African leaders called for a resumption of dialogue with them.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their Sahel Alliance pact, known as the Alliance of Sahel States, last September.
On the strength of the alliance, the three countries commit to cooperate in the event of external aggression against them.
The three countries left ECOWAS in January this year after ECOWAS moved against the respective military governments that toppled constituted democratic leaderships in those countries.
Speaking during their summit in Niamey on Saturday, Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tchiani described ECOWAS as a threat to the military-led countries.
He said the three countries would run an alliance free of foreign influence for their people.
Burkina Faso had its coup, toppling the civil democracy in place, in September 2022; Mali in August 2021 and Niger in July 2023.

As Muslims worldwide celebrate the new Islamic Year, 1446 AH, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, has congratulated fellow Muslims and other Nigerians.
The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, had declared Sunday, July 7, 2024, as the first day of Muharram, marking the beginning of the Islamic year 1446, after Hijrah.
Deputy President of the Senate, in a statement  signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, urged Nigerians to imbibe the lessons of compassion, peace and support for one another.
“As we celebrate the new Islamic Year, 1446 AH, let us reflect on the importance and historical significance of the Hijra and the overall teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and follow his examples, “he said.
He reiterated the commitment of the National Assembly to continue to come up with necessary legislation to address the challenges facing the country.
He urged the citizens to continue to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, assuring them that the policies being formulated by the president would address the challenges facing the country.
“With our support at the parliament and the understanding of Nigerians, Insha Allah, the promised land is assured, where things will work for all,” he said.

Access Bank, Africa’s leading full-service commercial bank, has partnered with the British Council for the seventh edition of the British Council Recognition and Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards (BROCLA).
The partnership is in line with Access Bank’s commitment to supporting the educational sector and recognizing students who have excelled on national and global stages in the May/June 2023 and Oct/Nov 2023 Cambridge International Examinations.
The well-attended event which took place Thursday evening at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, testifies to Access Bank’s brand positioning and its strategic alliances with reputable partners.
Access Bank said the partnership offers it a unique blend of global prestige, strategic networking opportunities, enhanced brand visibility, alignment with corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals, and positive public relations.
Speaking at the British Council Recognition and Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards, Chioma Kema Ogwo, Head, Emerging Businesses Team at Access Bank, said the importance of education cannot be overstated, noting that it is a sector the bank is heavily investing in.
She said it was because of Access Bank’s value for education that it partnered with the British Council in the 7th edition of the BROCLA, adding that in addition to the awards presented at the event, the bank will be giving the successful students some financial support as they begin this new phase in their lives.
“We at Access Bank are big on education and we have several offerings for the education value chain, from the parents – including access to finance for the school fees of their wards, access to exclusive offerings while transiting to visit their wards abroad, supplementary cards that can be used by their wards abroad and so much more.
“The schools are also not left out as we have access to affordable finance options for the schools for working capital, asset finance, and school expansion projects. We have a special school account for schools that recognizes their unique term cycles and offers a wide range of non-financial offerings,” Ogwo said.
In his address, Senior Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, Cambridge International Education, Der Riet commended the 48 recipients of the high achievement awards and eight students who have excelled across multiple subjects to earn the best awards, describing their dedication to studies and ability to excel across a diverse range of subjects as truly commendable.
Der Riet acknowledged Access Bank for partnering with the British Council for the Recognition and Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards 2024 saying that it is a vindication of the Bank’s commitment to promoting education in Nigeria.
“I also want to acknowledge Access Bank. Access Bank is also playing a big role here and is going to additionally recognise the awardees who are present in the room with awards. We want to thank the bank for this support and partnership; it’s a testament to the bank’s commitment to promoting education,” he said.

Regional Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Cambridge International Education, Juan Visser said of all the outstanding learner events across the world, Nigeria is by far the most glamorous, and acknowledged all the successful students for their brilliance, ambition, strength, and for simply being outstanding.
“We are here to celebrate 95 Cambridge learners coming from 37 Cambridge schools, or international schools accredited to offer Cambridge, with a total of 134 awards. Cambridge has an important role to play together with the British Council in Nigeria in providing quality education to our schools and learners worldwide,” he said.
Visser, who averred that quality education is the greatest driver to transforming societies and lives, said that the students gathered for the event are a testament: “I know this is a big day for you all and you have worked so hard for this moment. Even with the disruption of a global pandemic, you continue to study hard and achieve excellence. People often forget that the cohort of learners here today was highly impacted by the pandemic and had to work through that.”
The Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards are a group of awards that recognise exceptional learner achievement in Cambridge examinations around the world. Awards results are generated electronically using Cambridge’s awards data generation system.
Cambridge awards are based on overall standard marks rather than percentage marks or grades. The learner with the highest overall standard mark in the world or the country/territory will receive the award for that particular subject.
The 2024 British Council Recognition and Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards event was witnessed by students from various schools, parents, teachers, British Council Nigeria officials, and other distinguished guests including Hon. Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education.