President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday charged West African Leaders to push for the designation of resource theft, illegal mining, and mineral smuggling as international crimes, describing such acts have become grave threats to regional peace, stability, and development.
Tinubu made the charge on Tuesday in Abuja while declaring open the Annual General Meeting of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa.
The President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, lamented that despite decades of independence, the region’s economic and political progress continued to be undermined by corruption and the looting of mineral resources.
According to Tinubu, the proceeds of such thefts not only deprive citizens of development benefits but also fund insecurity, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, banditry and kidnapping across the region.
“West Africa’s post-independence economic and political trajectory is blighted by corruption, manifest in the theft and stashing of our commonwealth abroad by corrupt officials. Even now, illicit outflows remain an odious miasma. Stealing of mineral resources is on the rise in the region, fuelling the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, and other violent crimes such as kidnapping and banditry.
“I believe that the time has come for us to designate resource theft, mining and stealing of minerals in the region as an international crime that threatens the stability of the region and galvanise the world against threats from stolen minerals from West Africa,” Tinubu said, just as he also urged NACIWA delegates to critically examine the extractive sector, financial intelligence sharing and anti-money laundering frameworks to strengthen accountability across West Africa.
“I urge you all, in your deliberations, to examine critically the regional anti-money laundering frameworks, financial intelligence sharing mechanism, and accountability in the extractive sector across the region for a more prosperous and secure future, ” Tinubu said.
According to him, no single country could win the battle against illicit financial flows, noting that the challenge required a multi-state and multi-stakeholder platform to harmonise regional efforts against corruption and its manifestations.
