Agence de Presse Ouest-Africaine
Agence de Presse Ouest-Africaine
Breaking Nigeria news and analysis — politics, the economy, security and business across Abuja, Lagos and the 36 states, from West Africa News Agency.
ECOWAS has convened the first meeting of its Monitoring and Evaluation Coordination Team at Zuma Rock Resort in Niger State, Nigeria, running from 12 to 16 October 2026. The meeting is intended to harmonise institutional performance measurement, validate evaluation instruments and review the coordination team's mandate and operating arrangements.
A survey of 20,000 adults across 40 communities in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina states found that over 85% were multidimensionally poor, 45.2% scored in the high range for psychological distress and 18.5% screened positive for high-risk substance use. The researchers say the findings link climate stress, poverty and substance use, but caution that the one-time study cannot establish which causes which.
ECOWAS and Denmark have formally launched their partnership under the Increased Trade and Regional Economic Integration in Africa initiative at a meeting in Abuja on October 8, 2026. The project aims to strengthen cross-border trade, remove non-tariff barriers and accelerate market integration across West Africa. The bilateral agreement was finalised in August 2026.
A new global burden study estimates that at least 2.1 million people suffer snake envenoming each year, with the true figure possibly reaching 7 million and annual deaths ranging from 274,000 to 513,000. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 45% of the global burden, a share the authors say has been underestimated for decades.
The Chief of Staff of the ECOWAS Standby Force, Brigadier General Sheikh Sulaiman Massaquoi, paid a courtesy call on Nigerian Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Idi Abbas at Naval Headquarters in Abuja on 11 September 2026. The two sides discussed regional security, maritime cooperation, strategic mobility and logistics support, with the naval chief calling for stronger regional maritime cooperation and sustained efforts to keep the ECOWAS Standby Force operationally ready.
Brigadier General Sheikh Massaquoi, Chief of Staff of the ECOWAS Standby Force, paid a courtesy call on Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, in Abuja on September 30, 2026. The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between the ECOWAS Commission's military component and the Nigerian Army in areas including regional security, operational readiness, training and logistics support.
The Political Affairs Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission held the second edition of its Brown Bag seminar on 7 October 2026 in Abuja, Nigeria, on the theme "The New Has Not Yet Been Born: Global Africa in the Era of Chimerica." Professor Adekeye Adebajo of the University of Pretoria was the guest speaker, and participants included diplomats, multilateral organisation personnel, ECOWAS directorates, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CDD, WADEMOS and the Nigerian National Defence College.
Economist and legal scholar John Mukum Mbaku argues in The Conversation that military coups in Africa worsen intergroup conflict, undermine entrepreneurship, expose vulnerable groups to abuse and destroy efforts to deepen democracy. Drawing on studies of Egypt, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Sudan, he contends that positive change comes through institutional reform and civilian control of the military instead.
A West Africa Youth Democracy Conference in Dakar brought delegates from 12 countries together to discuss why young people remain largely absent from decision-making bodies despite making up about 70 percent of the region's population. In Nigeria, a 2018 constitutional amendment lowered the age limits for elective office, but nomination fees and campaign spending limits have continued to rise.
Young Nigerians won a constitutional amendment in 2018 lowering age limits for elective offices, but high nomination fees and rising campaign spending limits continue to block their path to power. A West Africa Youth Democracy Conference in Dakar brought delegates from 12 countries together to discuss the gap between legal rights and financial reality.
