President Bola Tinubu has called for a common front among African nations in the fight against the challenges of terrorism and human trafficking bedevilling them.

Mr Tinubu said this when he received Senegal’s President Bassirou Faye at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.

He said West African nations must realign their purpose and structure to effectively address the challenges confronting the region, such as terrorism, banditry, human trafficking and poverty.

He advised that leaders in the region must make the people the point of convergence in governance to achieve the essence of democratic governance.

The president emphasised that democratic governance, democratic values, and constitutional order are sacrosanct and must be protected. He also stated that critical institutions and precepts, like the judiciary and the rule of law, must be respected and observed to sustain democracy.

“Constitutional democracy is what Senegal proved to the rest of the world and Africa. It is a joy to have you here, to meet the hope and aspiration of our youths. You fit in perfectly well.

“A critical time it is in the history of constitutional democracy, particularly in West Africa. What you have embarked upon, a struggle couched in freedom, is remarkable,” Mr Tinubu said.

The president described Nigeria and Senegal as brotherly nations, recounting both countries’ long history of cooperation.

“We must partner to make our people the focus of our democratic commitment. Your belief in the sovereignty of Africa is shared by all of us. But how can we work for our people and make them the focus of our democracy if we are violating the rule of law and promoting unconstitutional takeover of government?

“As the chairman of ECOWAS, I am inviting you to collaborate and meet those other brothers. To persuade them to come back to the fold. We will continue to work together. We share good backgrounds, and we will continue to embrace and promote democratic governance.

“We must be able to partner and build the freedom we believe in – in economic growth, development and other spheres of governance,” the president said.

Mr Faye acknowledged Nigeria and Senegal’s shared values, ideals, and challenges, emphasising that both nations have had good relations since the 1960s.

“The good relations we have and the relations between our private sectors should be beneficial to our countries,” he said.

(NAN)