Nigeria and Tanzanian have resolved to unite in just energy transition as the global community moves towards net-zero emissions target.
The stressed the need for international collaboration to deter unconstitutional changes of government in Africa.
The resolution was arrived at by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and his Tanzanian counterpart Dr Philip Isdor Mpango.
These formed the crux of discussions by both leaders at a bilateral meeting in Arusha on Sunday after Prof Osinbajo arrived in Tanzania to speak at the inaugural session of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights for the year 2022.
The Vice Presidents also discussed a wide range of issues of interest to both Nigeria and Tanzania, including infrastructure development, trade and investment, technology, climate change and democracy.
Speaking about the need to promote democratic governance on the continent against the backdrop of recent coups de’tat in West Africa, the Vice President emphasized the need for other regional bodies on the continent and others in the global community to support actions already taken by ECOWAS leaders.
According to Prof Osinbajo, “we in ECOWAS have experienced in just under a year, 4 coups de’tats including attempts and it is disturbing because we felt we had put those things behind us, and now they seem to be coming back.
“It is something that we think has to do with more cooperation. AU has been very forthcoming (in condemnation) in saying that we cannot tolerate unconstitutional seizures of power. But sanctioning these coupists without any proper “teeth” has not been particularly effective.
“There might be a need for us to reach out to some of the regional bodies, development financial institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, and the EU. The EU has been quite responsive but we think that we can do a lot more just in terms of cooperation, so there is an effective deterrent if everyone agrees that undemocratic change of government is unacceptable.”
