{"id":27071,"date":"2026-02-27T11:12:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers-qa\/channelafrica\/news\/nigeria-reaffirms-commitment-to-african-integration-democratic-norms\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:35:01","slug":"nigeria-reaffirms-commitment-to-african-integration-democratic-norms","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/nigeria-reaffirms-commitment-to-african-integration-democratic-norms\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria reaffirms commitment to African integration, democratic norms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nigeria\u2019s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa (SA), Alexander Temitope Ajayi, says Abuja remains firmly committed to advancing African integration, defending democratic governance and pursuing reparations for historical injustices linked to slavery and colonialism.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during an engagement in SA, Ajayi stressed that the continent must take greater ownership of its future and deepen cooperation across regions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that the time has come for Africa to look inward. We have much more to do together,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to realise that our future lies in our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ajayi underscored Nigeria\u2019s role within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), describing the country as a leading voice in promoting democratic standards across West Africa. He reiterated Nigeria\u2019s opposition to unconstitutional changes of government, noting that Abuja has consistently backed regional protocols designed to deter military takeovers and uphold constitutional order.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria, he said, has been at the forefront of endorsing and implementing ECOWAS instruments aimed at strengthening democratic governance in the sub-region, including commitments against unconstitutional transfers of power.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Beyond governance, the envoy expressed strong support for renewed calls for reparations for slavery and colonial exploitation, a debate recently reignited by John Mahama, Ghana\u2019s President, who has urged African states to press for historical accountability on the global stage.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16193,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-27071","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Abuja remains firmly committed to advancing African integration","published_date":"2026-02-27 13:12:27","news_description":"Abuja remains firmly committed to advancing African integration","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27341,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27071\/revisions\/27341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=27071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}