The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Chief of Defence Staff, and stakeholders have gathered together to emphasise their common commitment to addressing the subregion’s vital security concerns.
The summit is taking place at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria, from March 11th to 13th, 2025.
The Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, announced this at the 43rd Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff in Abuja.
The Minister of Defense said that “as we convene at this pivotal moment, we must remind ourselves of the complex and multifaceted security landscape that befalls our sub-region.”
According to him, it is imperative of them in the sub-region to strengthen their bonds and collective resolve is greater now than ever.
He noted that the rise of populist ideologies and revolutionary rhetoric among global powers indicates that they would increasingly be left to their fate in the emerging global order.
The Minister of Defence charged them as stakeholders in the sub-region to identify and suitably adjust to the changing order of the global landscape in which emerging threats of terrorism, organized crime, climate change, cybercrime, and pandemics respect no partners.
He stressed that the emphasis on them is a shared responsibility to close ranks in order to break the cycle of terrorism and armed violence that plunge their region today.
The Chairman ECOWAS Committee, General Christopher Musa said that the complexity of the security landscape demands that they leverage their collective expertise, intelligence assets and coordinate their efforts across borders if they must solve these challenges, as the world has become a global village and the gap between them shrinking even more.
“Thus, collaboration is paramount and imperative to address both the root causes and symptoms of insecurity in our region. It is on this premise that the agenda for this meeting was carefully crafted to focus on critical areas while building from our previous engagements,” he added.
According to him, some of these critical areas, include the proposed review of pledges for the ECOWAS Standby Force, consideration of pledges for ECOWAS Standby Force Counterterrorist Brigade and the rotation of Staff Officers of Peace Support Operations Divisions and ECOWAS Standby Force as well as Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea.
Others are the presentation on the outcome of the Governmental Experts Meeting on the ECOWAS Logistics Concept and Standing Operating Procedures for ECOWAS Logistics Depot in Lungi
The meeting will also present and review the report of the last Chiefs of Naval Staff Meeting.
Furthermore, there will be a presentation on the standardisation of the table of equipment for the ECOWAS Standby Force.
He noted that as they embark on today’s discussions, their insights and experiences are paramount to their collective mission, while their sincerity and constructive commitments are essential for productive deliberations.
The Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, ECOWAS, Abdel-Fatau Musah said the Equal Accession States have decided, that they should activate the standby force in this kinetics, that’s a counter-terrorism force, to deal with the menace because the coastal countries are increasingly coming under threat from the northern Sahel side of the region and they need to come together with their Armed Forces and other things to have this brigade that would be a deterrent, to the southward drift of terrorism in the region.
The Commissioner said that “the meeting is another step in the drive toward the activation of the counter-terrorism force adding that they would soon be going to have a meeting of ministers of finance and then the ministers of defense to decide on modalities to fund that.”
He noted that today, with the world as it is, they need to depend upon themselves first before even trying to appeal to others for support.
“So that is one key outcome that we expect from this meeting as we gather here today. The second is that ECOWAS operates about two other missions in the region, one in the Gambia, one also in Guinea-Bissau,” he said.
He added that “the mission also, this meeting would decide how those missions go forward in terms of their mandate and in terms of the sustainability of that. That will be one of the issues here. But I think most importantly, this meeting is also going to be a pledging exercise, right, toward the counter-terrorism force.”
Abdel-Fatau Musah stressed that the member states have already pledged a contingent who will form the core of the brigade that is going to fight terrorism in the region.
He noted that with three of the member states withdrawing, that has become a bit obsolete, so they need to sort of look at how the gaps can be filled.
The meeting would also discuss the region’s general security situation, terrorism, banditry, transnational, organized crime, and how they can reposition themselves to face these challenges as regional integration progresses.
The seminar comprised a display of equipment to support ICT in National Defense College.
