African Leaders Appoint Buhari To Champion Fight Against COVID-19

President Muhammadu Buhari

ECOWAS leaders on Thursday through a teleconference meeting appointed President Muhammadu Buhari to head the battle against the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the sub-region. 

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the end of the summit that recorded the participation of the Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS States.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit was convened by the regional leaders to discuss how to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic which has continued to kill and affect human activities worldwide. 

Adesina stated that at the end of the summit the regional leaders decided to pick a leader to champion the response and they all settled on President Buhari to lead them. 

“The West African leaders discussed how to tackle the period of COVID-19 and what to do post-COVID-19. 

“Now, at the end of it all, it was decided that there should a champion who would lead the response of the sub-region and that champion is President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. 

“So, our president is going to lead the response of West Africa to the challenge of COVID-19,’’ Mr Adesina said. 

The Chairman of the ECOWAS and President of Niger Republic, Alhaji Mahamadou Issoufou, had during his opening speech raised alarm over the devastating effects of COVID-19 on humans and the economics of the member-states. 

He, therefore, called for a united approach among the member-states in other to combat the pandemic, which he said had already claimed many lives all over the world. 

President Buhari also used the opportunity to call for the cancellation of all debt for African countries to enable the African continent to survive the post-coronavirus era.

The President of Niger Republic, Alhaji Issoufuo commended the World Bank and Africa Development Bank (AfDB) for their contributions so far towards fighting the spread of Coronavirus; urging the two financial institutions not to relent in their effort in assisting the African continent to save lives.