Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has kept former leaders actively engaged with the WAEF
On 4 March 2021, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan launched the West African Elders Forum (WAEF). The key mission of the Forum is to build “democratic accountability, strengthening governance and building leadership towards ensuring a transparent and peaceful transition of power”. In achieving its objective, WAEF aims at leveraging the peace-building and mediation powers of constituent members.
The co-convener of the Forum Dr Goodluck Jonathan couldn’t have come up with a more fitting and relevant organisation considering that the West African region is bedevilled with instances of electoral malpractices and coups. In the past couple of years since the launch of the Forum, the West African region has witnessed coups in Mali, Burkina Faso as well as the recent Niger coup. Owing to this, it's crystal clear to see that the mission of WAEF is not just fitting for the West Africa region but very much appropriate.
Other constituent members of the Forum who are tasked with using their leadership skills in mediating between conflicting parties to diffuse tensions and address electoral and democratic conflict in the region include former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, former Liberian president Amos Claudius Sawyer, former Burkinabe prime minister Kadre Desire Quedraogo, former Nigerian president General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Cape Verde president Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires, former Liberian president Madam Ellen Sirleaf, former Benin president Thomas Boni Yayi, former Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma, former Senegalese president Aminata Toure and one time Mali president Dioncounda Traore.
In all the recent events that have happened in West Africa, particularly on the electoral and governance front, WAEF has been very active in offering much-needed assistance. In the lead-up to the Nigerian election, the Forum through its head of Election Mediation Mission to Nigeria Dr. Goodluck Jonathan called upon the responsible authorities to respect the will of the people and to conduct the election in an environment that promotes peace. In a statement, the Forum said the creation of the Election Mediation Mission to Nigeria is to explore “preventive diplomacy to reduce electoral-related tension and violence in Africa”.
“In the recent past, some of our countries have been backsliding in terms of democracy that we could advance in other countries. We expect Nigeria to get it right. To send a signal to those other countries, that democracy is the way to go,” Dr Jonathan said. At the same time, the Forum also revealed that one of its members Abdulsalam Abubakar played a pivotal role in initiating the National Peace Committee and the signing of the Peace Accord by political parties and their candidates.
Former Gambian Vice President Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang who is also a Forum member called upon women from Nigeria and the wider West African region to be more involved in civic matters as there are just as critical stakeholders as their male counterparts in governance issues. “As a woman, I’m concerned about the marginalisation of women in politics. We know our fundamental constraints, we see the cultural constraints… despite all this, we members of the Forum, we encourage government and civil society to work together and also women to be involved,” Jallow-Tambajang said.
Members of the Forum also visited Liberia in July with the mission of advancing preventive diplomacy as the country gears up for elections. The Forum was welcomed by President George Weah with whom it deliberated key electoral issues. During its 3 day stay in the country, members of the Forum also met with leaders of the main opposition parties, the Electoral Management Body, the Police Chief, the National Security Chief, and the Diplomatic Corps. In its pre-election engagements with all these individuals, the Forum stressed the need for good governance practises to be followed at all times to create a conducive and peaceful environment that allows a peaceful election to take place.
Co-convener of the Forum Dr Goodluck Jonathan while addressing the media in Monrovia called upon presidential hopefuls to embrace issue-based campaigning saying that’s one way of promoting peace on the eve of an election. “I caution Liberians and politicians to embrace issue-based campaigning, abusive languages and insults have no place in our society and should have no place in our elections,” Dr Jonathan said.
A delegation of the WAEF poses for cameras after a meeting with APC flagbearer Ahmed Tinubu. The WAEF has been active in election monitoring and peace missions
To the electoral body, Dr Jonathan said, “As a way of boosting confidence in the elections, we urge the National Elections Commission and the security apparatus to regularly communicate their programs and activities for the elections to reassure the citizens that elections are going on in accordance with the plans.”
After Senegalese president Macky Sall renounced his aspiration for a constitutionally prohibited third term on July 3, 2023, Dr Jonathan through WAEF was one of the first statesmen to congratulate him for showing “sacrificial leadership”.
In Sierra Leone, Dr Jonathan and other members of the Forum arrived in the country just days before election day. The message the Forum carried to Sierra Leone was that of peace before, during and after the elections. In a statement released soon after WAEF members landed in Freetown, WAEF said its mission in Sierra Leone is to urge “citizens of Sierra Leone to approach the election with utmost patriotism by prioritising the nation’s peace and stability and refrain from acts capable of undermining the nation’s democracy.”
