By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
Nigeria and Benin have advanced plans to implement the recent inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) agreement held last month in Abuja, by finalizing the cooperation framework during a two-day technical meeting in Cotonou.
President Tinubu’s Special Envoy and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Bianca Ojukwu, led Nigeria’s delegation to operationalize commitments on trade, security, and regional integration.
A statement by her Media Aide Magnus Eze indicated that Joint Committees will now refine specifics of the agreement focusing trade facilitation, customs harmonization, infrastructure, and market access.
Ojukwu also emphasized the need for “cooperation, not conflict” to tackle smuggling and transnational crime, while Benin’s Foreign Minister Olushegun Bakari reaffirmed commitment to mutual prosperity, echoing Presidents Tinubu and Talon’s WAES declaration that both nations are “more than twins, but rather the same people.”
Bianca Ojukwu stated that the progress marks early results of President Tinubu’s “4Ds” foreign policy, with technical reports expected in Abuja within weeks.
