The advice of President Muhammadu Buhari to Malians as they plan to return their country to civil rule and the need for everyone to work within the tenets of the ECOWAS to restore constitutional order is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
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The Guardian reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, declared that nobody could love Mali more than Malians themselves, just as he counselled on the need for everyone to work within the tenets of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to restore constitutional order to the landlocked nation. This comes as Mali’s interim authorities have proposed to its West African neighbours that a transition back to democracy following a 2020 military coup be extended by five years. The transitional government initially agreed to hold presidential and legislative elections in February 2022, 18 months after Colonel Assimi Goita championed the overthrow of President Boubacar Ibrahim Keita. But President Buhari, who spoke when he received a Special Envoy from Col. Goita, however, assured that Nigeria would do its best for the sister country within the ambit of ECOWAS. Mali’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Col. Abdoulaye Maiga, had led a team to the Presidential Villa, Abuja to brief the Nigerian leader on resolutions from the National Conference on State-Rebuilding held in Bamako from December 27 to 30, 2021. “I am pleased you have briefed the ECOWAS Chairman too,” Buhari said. Continuing, the President noted: “Nigeria will work within ECOWAS limitations to assist Mali. Every country has its issues. We fought our own civil war before, so we may not know the totality of the internal politics of each country. But we will make as much sacrifice as we can for Mali within ECOWAS requirements.” The newspaper says that the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), an economic advocacy group, has identified Dangote Petroleum Refinery as one of the key expected drivers of growth that would impact positively on the downstream sector of the Nigerian economy in 2022. Also, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, a financial institution, in its recent Economic Report for 2022, expressed a firm belief that Dangote Refinery would boost the growth of the downstream sector of the economy and enhance petroleum products distribution across Africa. The Managing Director/CEO of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, however, warned that the refinery, when operational, would not be a final solution to Nigeria’s economic crises. “The coming on stream of Dangote Refinery will no doubt enhance product distribution across Africa. Will Dangote Refinery solve Nigeria’s problem? The answer is no. But the company is going to make Nigeria an exporter of refined petroleum products,” he added. |
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GIK/APA