Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has been appointed by the Economic Community of West African States as a special envoy to lead the sub-regional body’s mediation mission in Mali.
This was made known in a statement issued by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, on Tuesday.
As a special envoy, the former President is expected to facilitate dialogue “with all principal stakeholders in Mali, including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, opposition leaders, civil society as well as religious organisations, towards resolving the worsening socio-political situation in the West African country”.
Speaking ahead of his scheduled departure for Bamako on Wednesday, Jonathan promised to do his best to ensure that the mission achieves the desired result.
He also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the support of the Nigerian Government, including providing an aircraft and other logistics needed to make the assignment successful.
Jonathan, who had led peace missions to many crises-ridden nations in the past, is expected to deploy his enormous goodwill within the continent to facilitate the process of restoring peace in the troubled nation.
His appointment was communicated to him in a letter signed by Mr Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, President of the ECOWAS Commission.
Mali has been hit by protests fuelled by the outcome of parliamentary elections in March and April, perceived discontent over the government’s handling of the nation’s jihadist insurgency and worsening economic situation.
