The Vice President of ECOWAS Commission, Damtien Tchintchibidja, says the sub-regional bloc is grooming West African children for future leadership roles.
Tchintchibidja stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of a sensitization programme for students on Monday in Abuja.
The programme, which was aimed at sensitising the youths on the mission, achievements and vision of ECOWAS, was organised by the commission as part of activities to celebrate its 49th anniversary.
‘We have been doing it over the years. We’ve done it in the past. And this is our way of reaching out to members of our community.
‘And because we pride ourselves on being the ECOWAS of the People.
‘So it is important that we get closer to the people and for the people to understand what we do and how our work impacts their livelihoods.
‘So it’s important that we reach out to the youth because these are our future leaders.
‘We want to instil ECOWAS values in those young children to make sure that tomo
rrow they will be the new leaders of ECOWAS,’ she said.
The vice president said that ECOWAS has been receiving positive feedback on the impacts of their efforts on the children, which she described as encouraging.
‘We’ve done this over the years, and from last year, for example, there’s been positive feedback and we intend to do more of it in other member states as well.
‘This is because by doing this kind of programs, we’re able to disseminate information, first of all in terms of what we do, our agenda, and our objectives.
‘It is also to get closer to our populations and for them to better understand us as an institution.
‘So, the feedback, from my perspective, is positive because it’s important that we reach out to all levels of our community.
‘It’s not just people, who are at the political level, who tend to engage with us more often in terms of the work we do, but also with normal citizens and especially our children,’ she explained.
Tchintchibidja said that ECOWAS has been doing a lot more in te
rms of other activities, apart from education for children within the subregion.
‘In terms of children, we’re promoting education for all children, children’s rights. What was presented in the course this morning, I call it course because it was for children, to educate them.
‘And we’re also promoting a level-playing ground for everyone, for every member of the society in our region.
‘Also to make sure that everyone has access to basic needs, basic goods, and to make sure that our member states also implement our protocols.
‘This is so that everyone has access to opportunities within our region, to the same opportunities within our region,’ the vice president added.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria