We sincerely agree with the Vice-President and Minister of Women Affairs, Ajaratou Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, that
For far too long, the African continent has been plagued by wars and conflicts, coupled with the spate of poverty, diseases and underdevelopment gripping the continent.
In making a comparison of the continent with other parts of the world, one would not lose sight of the fact that
The continent needs integration now more than ever before, if we are to realise economic independence among the comity of nations.
In the words of Vice-President Njie-Saidy, Africans should not wait for outside influence to solve their own problems. African states must integrate immediately or some will not survive the throes of time.
As she professed, with the world grappling the effects of the economic downturn, our part of the world must not stand aside to merely watch the situation.
"We must become part and parcel of the global order where countries unite their efforts at promoting growth, and to help our people," she said.
Vice-President Njie-Saidy got it right when she hammered home that it is rather unfortunate that despite its (ECOWAS) vast resources, and a market of more than 260 million people, the ECOWAS sub-region has little to show in terms of its contributions in internal trade.
This is quite pertinent, because it is our opinion that unless and until we Africans discard regionalism, and focus on uniting the continent we will not make headway.
Several overlapping regional groupings throughout the continent are trying to knit their economies closer together, but the pace and extent of integration is slower than our hopes.
This is unacceptable, unviable, and people need to stand up and say this.
ECOWAS states should rely on themselves to get their people from poverty by using their respective resources. This is the only way out to saving the lives of our people, especially the future generation.
As Africans, we must try to get rid of corruption and all forms of scourges bedevilling the continent, and come together for the betterment of our dear people.
"Success is restricted only from those who restrict themselves from success."
Gillis Triplett
