Meet the Nigerian appointed committee chairman of an African Union body

By Tunde Opalana

An international body, the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC) has appointed a Nigerian from Edo state, Engr. Chris Anonre as its Chairman, International Cooperation and Cross-Cutting Committee, Daily Times gathered.

Before the recent appointment, Anonre has been the Deputy Chairman, Contact Resource Mobilization Committee.

He was inaugurated in Abuja on Thursday alongside other members of the National Standing Committee of the 3rd Permanent General Assembly AU – ECOSOCC Nigeria by the Nigerian Representative, Dr. Tunji John Asaolu.

Asaolu said he has no doubt that the committee members will perform creditably well, a reference to their antecedents in previous engagements.

Trusting that they will count their appointment as a privilege to support collective resolve in the vision to re-awaken the spirit of Pan Africanism, the country representative appealed and requested all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Banks, and Companies to give the Committee full cooperation as their assignment is crucial not only to the harvesting of needed resources for national development but also in setting out a fresh template of public accountability.

Explaining the reason for the committee, Asaolu said “what we are doing today is to put our weight and do the talk and of course, the way to implement the vision of the African Union in Nigeria. Today’s event will also map out on our efforts to support the government at all levels in Nigeria toward the implementation of all instruments of the AU in Nigeria.

“To achieve these, we must climax on our strategic agenda by engaging a pool of experts from various professions in their chosen fields to drive the AU-ECOSOCC Nigeria National Standing Committee, I, therefore, on behalf of the AU-ECOSOCC, congratulate all the committee members for scaling our selection.

“Your appointment by the African Union is another opportunity for you to serve your continent. I urge you to perform your duties diligently in the best interests of our dear continent.

“The Committee, in essence, is therefore expected to judiciously undertake programmes, review policies and frameworks of Union from time to time and provide an advisory opinion as the case may be.”

 He charged members to deeply be conscious of the importance as well as the nobility of the purpose of the body which is “the eradication of poverty, illiteracy, under-development, conflict, and lack of integration levels in the continent are scourge which,  like cancer,  constantly undermines the progress of our peoples and the continent”.

In a goodwill message, Minister of State, Labour, Employment and Productivity, Festus Keyamo appreciated the body for inaugurating the sub-committees to address topical challenges of member states of the AU and the scope demands the active involvement of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

He said the work of the standing committees inaugurated is very critical because they are relevant to the priority development agenda of the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari.

Keyamo said “the activation and operationalization of the Sectoral Cluster Committees have become even more urgent due to the huge socio-economic demands of the COVID-19 Pandemic on economies of nations, especially in developing countries.

“Therefore, expectations from the standing committee, working with the Sectoral Clusters, go beyond the normal and should include innovative and cost-saving methodologies, with high prospects for rapid results across sectors of the economy. 

“The timing of this inauguration is also significant due to the windows of opportunities offered by the on-going formulation of our new Medium- and Long-Term National Development Plans.

“Mainstreaming of the noble objectives of the policies and programmes of the AU-ECOSOCC Standing Committee into our development process at this planning stage would promote alignment with national development priorities and achievement of desired results”.

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