President Bola Tinubu, speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima at an ECOWAS summit in Abuja on Thursday, called on West African leaders to stick together to fight terrorism, violent extremism and coups.
He said the region cannot face these problems alone.
Tinubu warned that many threats “recognise no borders.” “The external threats confronting West Africa today demand nothing less than a united front,” he said, calling for joint action on security, organised crime and climate shocks.
He also stressed the shared history that binds the region. “We do not share geography by accident; we share it by design, by history and kinship,” the president said, urging leaders to treat ECOWAS as a family that must stand together.
The summit produced a concrete economic move: ECOWAS leaders agreed to remove air ticket taxes and cut some passenger and security charges from 1 January 2026, to make flying in the region cheaper and boost travel and trade.
“From 1 January 2026, all ECOWAS Member States will remove taxes applied to air transport,” officials said.
Delegates agreed to push for better intelligence sharing, stronger borders and joint programmes to tackle the root causes of violence.
