President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria is ready to host the African Central Bank according to the vision of the Abuja Treaty.
He affirmed that “his administration will engage the African Union Commission in collaboration with member states to ensure that the bank takes off as scheduled in 2028,” a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed.
The statement is titled ‘President Tinubu to AU leaders: Nigeria ready to host African Central Bank; prepare the youth for the 21st-century economy.’
Tinubu made these remarks when he addressed leaders at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday.
The President declared that Africa’s success in conclusively addressing its challenges hinges on the firmness of its resolution, built on a foundation of deep-rooted solidarity if it is to avoid perpetuating existing problems and creating new ones.
“As a continent and as individual nations, we face strong headwinds and difficult hurdles threatening to complicate our mission to bring qualitative democratic governance and economic development to our people.
“Many of these obstacles, such as climate change and unfair patterns of global trade, are largely not of our making.
“However, some of the pitfalls, including coup-birthed autocracies and the deleterious tinkering with constitutional tenure provisions, are developmental cancers we as Africans are giving to ourselves,” Tinubu stated.
Citing the military takeovers in the Republics of Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, and the exit of three of these nations from ECOWAS, Tinubu argued that disagreements over the unconstitutional changes of government should not mean a permanent rupture of the abiding lines of regional affinity and cooperation.
“The drive for a peaceful, strong, and united West Africa is bigger than any one person or group of people. The bonds of history, culture, commerce, geography, and brotherhood hold deep meaning for our people.