Nigeria has submitted its ratification document for the African Union (AU) Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation to the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, office of the African Union Commission.
The Member States of the Convention, also known as the Niamey Convention, have a strong commitment to promoting cross-border cooperation for the sustainable development of the African Continent.
The Director-General of the National Boundary Commission, Surveyor Adamu Adaji, made the Deposition recently, according to a news release by the Head of the Information Unit, Efe Ovuakporie.
The Convention aims to establish a framework for the peaceful settlement of boundary disputes between Member States. It also aims to further peace and stability by preventing conflicts, integrating the continent, and strengthening Member States’ bonds with one another.
It equally provides an opportunity to share intelligence among Member States.
The Director-General Adamu Adaji recalled that “Nigeria played a pivotal role in the conceptualization of the African Union Border Programme (AUBP) and was very strategic to the process that produced the Convention during the Conference of African Ministers in charge of Borders on 29th May 2012 in Niamey, Niger Republic.”
He urged all other Member States that are yet to ratify and deposit the Convention to expedite actions and deposit theirs.
With this deposition, Nigeria has thus become the 9th country to have ratified and deposited the Niamey Convention at the African Union Commission Headquarters.
Aside from Nigeria, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana have already deposited their instruments of ratification of the African Union Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation at the African Union Commission.
