Nigeria and the Republic of Benin on Saturday signed a pact to deepen bilateral integration and serve as a model for wider cooperation within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region..
The agreement was signed during the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), held in Abuja, with Presidents Bola Tinubu and his Benin counterpart, Patrice Talon in attendance.
Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Dr Jumoke Oduwole and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu signed on behalf of Nigeria and Shadiya Assouman and Shegun Bakari signed for Benin Republic.
Speaking at the event, President Talon of Benin Republic, described the agreement as a bold step towards genuine, practical regional integration and called for prompt implementation by the ministers.
“President Tinubu and I have agreed on full integration between Benin and Nigeria. The task now lies with our ministers.
“Benin and Nigeria are more than twins—we are one people. Let us show the region that integration is possible,” Talon said.
According to local media reports, President Talon had earlier called for urgent reforms to revive ECOWAS’s stalled regional integration efforts, saying the bloc is currently in crisis.
“ECOWAS once exemplified integration. Today, unfortunately, it is struggling to live up to its purpose,” he noted.
He cited the West African Gas Pipeline as a failed initiative due to persistent administrative hurdles and poor coordination.
“It is shameful. We are wasting resources. Our inability to cooperate undermines integration,” he said.
Talon disclosed that Benin now sources gas from Qatar using a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) because of these failures.
He also criticised the poor performance of the West African Power Pool, another stalled regional project requiring urgent revival.
“We invested heavily in this power infrastructure, yet it still fails to meet expectations. Without firm action, it may never succeed,” he warned.
Addressing the Lagos–Abidjan Corridor, Talon highlighted border delays and harassment as major barriers to smooth regional movement.
“The road is there. But a trader should not face harassment just to move goods from Lagos to Abidjan,” he said.
He warned that poverty is the most dangerous destabiliser in the region, threatening democracy, peace, and stability.
“Poverty undermines everything. Without integration that tackles poverty, our democratic values will ring hollow,” Talon said.
The Presidents of Sierra Leone and Liberian also addressed the gathering, while the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, and the Director General of the WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, sent their recorded goodwill messages to the participants ahead of the 67th ECOWAS Heads of State session on Sunday.
GIK/APA