The City Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson Tamba Koijee has taken his campaign for regional governance in West Africa to be reinvented in a bottom-top approach adrift the antiquated way that has yielded little results and left those affected by top political decisions, the people, to wander in exclusion.
Mayor Koijee’s assertion was contained in his remarks made at the opening of a two-day ECOWAS Consultative Meeting of stakeholders on ECOWAS Vision 2050 in which he is currently participating.
Mayor Koijee who arrived in Nigeria yesterday, March 28, 2021 along with his Administrative Assistant joined scores of stakeholders including state Governors, Nigerian Government officials, and Mayors from the Sub-region to deliberate on the formulation of the ECOWAS VISION 2050.
Representing Liberia, Mayor Koijee stressed the need for the regional organization to include as priorities the issues of addressing poor sanitational condition of member states cities, progressive action to combating gender-based violence and abuse of children, the need to strengthen intra trade between member countries and cities, promoting youth and women empowerment into national leadership among others.
Mayor Koijee appreciated the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission H.E. Madam Finda Koroma for the meeting and intimated that cities are becoming the driving forces of national development around the world and, if we must achieve the aspirations of the ECOWAS VISION 2050; then cities in the sub-region should be a factor in driving the various pillars of the Vision 2050.
He asserted that while the traditional form of soliciting decisions or opinions from only the head of States which he termed as “Top to Bottom approach” is good but gathering from local stakeholders like city mayors who are in direct contact with the problems and challenges of people affected directly can bring to the spotlight issues and solutions from the directly affected people “Bottom to Top” approach.
The development of the new ECOWAS vision follows an approach of long-term strategic foresight and follows the end of the 2020 vision.
The vision envisages a fully integrated community of peoples in a peaceful and prosperous region with strong institutions that promote fundamental freedoms and work towards inclusive sustainable development.
