Nigeria has called for ongoing dialogue with the Alliance of Sahelian States to bolster joint efforts to address democratic instability.

In a statement, the foreign affairs minister, Sola Enikanolaiye, said that the dialogue would also promote regional peace and boost security in West Africa and the Sahel.

Mr Enikanolaiye spoke on the margins of the ongoing 56th session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council being held in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Mr Enikanolaiye, in the statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, described Nigeria’s leadership within ECOWAS and the sub-region as inspiring.

The minister stressed the need for continued dialogue and engagement with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

He also restated the need to look at the situation in Guinea-Bissau, as a fellow African nation, to boost joint efforts to tackle perceived challenges in West Africa and the Sahel and highlighted major challenges to democracy, regional peace, stability, security and development in the sub-regions.

According to him, the challenges call for innovative and effective mechanisms and strategies for engaging the AES in the light of multipolarity and in view of the worsening security dynamics in the region.

The minister emphasised the need for prompt payment of the community levy by ECOWAS member states; unity in tackling terrorism and other organised crimes; promotion of democracy and good governance, among other things, to achieve set targets.

He decried Afrophobic sentiments and violence in South Africa, where citizens of other African States are hounded and sometimes killed through mob actions, and described the trend as unacceptable.

Mr Enikanolaiye called on the council to adopt a firm, strongly worded, and collective position to be submitted to the African Union, as earlier proposed by Ghana, to ensure a sustainable solution to the challenges.

The session was attended by the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, and the chairperson of the Council and the Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, Timothy Kabba.

Also in attendance was the ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, among others.

(NAN)