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ECOWAS and the Dynamics of Conflict and Peace-building

Book · December 2011

DOI: 10.2307/j.ctvk8w0dp

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 Introduction
Thomas Jaye, Dauda Garuba & Stella Amadi

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established

in 1975 and comprises fifteen member states and has the total population of 280
million people. ECOWAS was established to address a specific problem with
which it was confronted – economic development. Consequently, ECOWAS
was originally conceived and established to address the narrow security issues of
economic integration as the basis for self-reliance. However, with time, the leaders
of the regional body realised that there was a strong nexus between economics
and other broader security issues. Hence, in recent years, the organisation has
begun to tackle a number of issues which were not originally envisaged to address.
After independence, most African states faced the challenge of addressing the
legacies of long years of colonial rule, and economic development was one of
the issues confronting these fledgling states. Individually, these states could not
address such problem and therefore the need for a regional approach to it. The
creation of ECOWAS provided the regional framework for achieving such a
goal but like other post-colonial projects, the process of economic integration
was undermined by the strong link with the economies of the former colonies,
which led more to dependence than independence; and the unfavourable and
unequal international trade regime established did not provide any basis for African
countries to develop.
Long years of single party and authoritarian rule coupled with frequent regime
change through military coups d’etat made it impossible to pursue development
in any stable environment. Politics therefore undermined economic development
because most leaders were more interested in maintaining the status quo through
power struggle than pay serious attention to development that would benefit the
citizens of the respective states constituting the region.
Often, arbitrary regime change was aided and abetted by neighbouring states
and this made it impossible to pursue any regional project with success as
governments became suspicion of one other.
Accordingly, ECOWAS responded to the ugly situation by adopting two major
security documents, namely, the Protocol on Non-Aggression (1978) and the

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 2 ECOWAS and the Dynamics of Conflict and Peace-building

Protocol on Mutual Assistance on Defence (1981). These legal instruments

constituted the beginning of the realisation by West African leaders that security
was linked with economic integration.
By the end of the 1980s, new forms of challenges emerged in West Africa,
which required new ways of addressing them. Unlike in the past when inter-state
rivalries and conflicts were the order of the day, during this period, intra-state
conflicts posed new challenges to ECOWAS. Although the region had experienced
intra-state conflict in Nigeria (the Nigerian civil war) between May 1967 and
January 1970, the conflict in Liberia and subsequently in Sierra Leone and Cote
d’Ivoire posed new challenges. The impact on the lives of West Africans; their
regional and international dimensions; and their nature meant that ECOWAS could
not afford to sit supinely to allow the conflicts take their natural course.
Consequently, when the Liberian civil war erupted, ECOWAS was swift in
putting together troops to intervene in the conflict. For the first time, the regional
body organised ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to intervene militarily
in order to bring the carnage under control. It was also the first time a regional
body like ECOWAS intervened in such conflict without prior authorisation by
the UN Security Council (UNSC). The ECOWAS intervention raised a number
of issues including legitimacy and legality. Questions were posed as to whether
ECOWAS had any legitimate and legal right to intervene in such conflict. There
were two major reasons for this debate. First, there was the erroneous view that
Nigeria intervened in Liberia because of the personal relations between President
Samuel Doe of Liberia and President I. B. Babangida of Nigeria. Secondly, some
felt that it was questionable whether countries led by undemocratic military
governments could promote democracy in war-torn Liberia.
Subsequently, the ECOWAS intervened in Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire in
order to find solution to the crises in these countries. Without delving into the
shortcomings and strengths of these interventions because they are covered in
the papers in this book, what is important is that such interventions constituted
the beginning of the effective involvement of the organisation in other security
issues, which impinged upon economic integration.
Currently, intra-state conflicts on the scale of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote
d’Ivoire are declining but the region is plagued by conflicts in Senegal (Cassamance),
Ghana (Northern), Nigeria (Niger Delta) and others. Moreover, there are
transnational or trans-border security challenges that the region must confront if
it should remain stable and secure. First, addressing the challenges of post-war
reconstruction is a tall order. Second, the region is awash with Small Arms and
Light Weapons (SALW) and drugs trafficking; there are issues of money laundering
and human trafficking, youth unemployment, and spread of the HIV/AIDS disease.

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 Jaye, Garuba & Amadi: Introduction 3

One other area which needs to be addressed within the context of this discourse
is the gender dimension to conflicts as they occur in the sub-region. The praxis
has more often than not been to pay attention to gender issues only during the
post conflict period. In Sierra Leone for instance it was estimated that 250,000
women were raped during decade-long civil war.1 Women in Liberia and Cote
d’Ivoire faced similar ordeals and even in societies that are considered relatively
stable; the situation of women demands serious attention.
However, there have been notable and positive developments within the region.
Over the past five years, there have been democratic changes in West African
states based on political pluralism. For example, in the year 2007, a total of ten
West African countries conducted democratic elections. With the lingering poverty
and impact of protracted conflicts, however, the holding of ‘pro forma
democracies’ on their own will not be able to ensure sustainable peace and security
in the region. There is thus the need to address the broader security needs of the
people as part and parcel of the democratisation of West Africa. Thus, the nexus
between politics and economics should be recognised as the basis for sound
policy making at the national and regional levels.
Although ECOWAS relies on its member states to address the challenges
narrated above, the organisation must understand the nuances and dynamics of
the conflicts in order to play the role of facilitator and monitor of developments
in the region. It must ensure that security is viewed from a holistic perspective,
and that the new shift towards human security is not just about the physical security
of the people. On the contrary, it should be about addressing the oppressive
power structures that perpetuate human suffering. Hence, human security is also
about emancipation. Such conceptual clarity is vital for sound and effective policy
making in the region.
This book therefore provides a nuanced understanding and explanation of
the broad range of issues that relate to the dynamics of conflicts in the region. It
covers issues such as natural resource governance; the nexus between demography,
environment and conflicts; youth vulnerability; gender; peacemaking; human
security; internal and external dimensions of conflicts; Diaspora and conflicts;
and the responses of ECOWAS to conflicts in the region. As a research effort,
this process brings with it the value-added of retrospective analysis at a time
when even the sub-regional umbrella (ECOWAS) is re-thinking its conflict
intervention framework in a bid to effectively mainstream issues of human security
within its security sector intervention paradigm.
Accordingly, in his chapter, Abiodun Alao argues that natural resources have
entered the dynamics of conflicts in the region because the mechanisms for
governing these resources in most countries in the region are deplorably weak,2
and the sub-regional organisation overlooking the affairs of the region, ECOWAS,

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 4 ECOWAS and the Dynamics of Conflict and Peace-building

still has considerable amount of work to do in order to manage the complexities

of natural resource governance at the sub-regional level. By natural resource
governance, Alao refers to ‘the complex structures of considerations, internal
and external, which come to play in the management (i.e. the ownership, extraction,
processing, distribution and control) of natural resources’. Thus he covers the
legal and political contexts for natural resource governance.
In their chapter, Andrews Atta-Asamoah and Emmanuel Kwesi Aning provide
an analysis of the complex relationships between population composition, especially
age distribution; environment and the dynamics that accompany the outbreak of
conflicts in West Africa by using Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire as
empirical case studies. They argue that the conflicts in the region have never been
linked with the problem of youth bulge and the effects of economic downturns.
They also point out the adverse impact of conflicts on environmental security. In
this light, reference is made to the role of environmental issues in fomenting
tensions in many forest and Sahelian areas. As they argue, the increasing desertification
in West Africa constitutes an early warning indicator that must be addressed or
else the region could degenerate into more deadly conflicts in the future.
Augustine Ikelegbe and Dauda Garuba probe the role of youth in the conflicts
in West Africa. In this light, they examine the factors that make young people to
get involved in these conflicts. According to them, although youth dominate some
conflicts, they are not the drivers. However, there are conflicts that are driven and
run by young people. The case of the Niger Delta exemplifies this assumption
and therefore understanding and explaining their roles and character of youth
involvement in such conflicts are crucial in understanding conflicts dynamics in
the sub-region. Against the backdrop of the above, they pose a number of
questions that are relevant to articulating policy options for addressing such a
problem within the region. These relate to the origins of youth involvement;
characteristics and trends of youth in conflicts; and policy measures for redirecting
the energies of youth in order for them to realize their potentials in society.
Awa Ceesay-Ebo provides some critical insights into the gender dimension
of the ECOWAS peace and security architecture in relation to UN Resolution
1325. In her contribution, she argues that in post-conflict environments, women
are ‘only sporadically involved in peace negotiations and agreements’. According
to her, even where they are involved in peace-building in society, the views of
women are not taken seriously. Yet in demographic terms, ‘women are half of
the human race’. Ebo points out that the role of women in such process can go
a long way in sustaining peace and security.
Boubacar N’Diaye reflects on the internal and international dimensions of
conflicts in West Africa. In his chapter, he argues that even though the conflicts in
West Africa originate from objective socioeconomic, psychological, and political
conditions in the confines of national boundaries, they are also influenced by the

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 Jaye, Garuba & Amadi: Introduction 5

sub-regional, regional, and global environments in which they occur. In this light,
he provides a historical background to the region and subscribes to the definition
of conflict as ‘a situation in which actors use conflict behaviour against each other
to attain incompatible goals and/or to express their hostility’.3 It also examines
the nature of the African state and the implications for understanding the dynamics
of conflicts in the region.
In her chapter, Funmi Olonisakin discusses the dynamics of conflict and
peace-building in West Africa within the contexts of the role of ECOWAS. In
her assessment of the role of ECOWAS, she writes that the organisation has
demonstrated its capacity in the area of peacekeeping. However, its involvement
in overall peace-building in the region has been comparably weak and less systematic.
Indeed, peace-building in the region has witnessed greater involvement by external
actors, with ECOWAS, playing a minimal role.
Ishola Williams provides personal insights into the process of peacemaking in
the region. As someone who has worked in this area in the region, he explains
why peace agreements are not durable. As he points out, most of the negotiated
processes in Africa follow the same method, the same template and the peace
accords are similar. In most cases, peace agreements are not respected because
when rebels negotiate, they do so under pressure and often with carrots and
sticks incentives. It is from the vantage point as a practitioner, both at national and
sub-regional levels, that he discusses peacemaking with emphasis on the instruments,
institutions, resources and capacity.
In his chapter, Mohammed J. Kuna examines the issue of social vulnerability
and Conflicts in West Africa. He conceptualises the notion of vulnerability and
outlines its basic elements in the West African context. He argues that a regional
Conflict Vulnerability Analysis (CVA) should include an analysis of the trajectories
of conflicts.
Therefore, he reviews the ‘existing regional mechanism for conflict management,
and draws attention to some of its limitations, thereby laying the ground for the
necessity of a broader mechanism that encompasses a CVA’. He argues,
furthermore, that ‘such mechanisms have been locked within a broad, though
paralysing framework that emphasises the rigidity of national sovereignty and
boundaries’. He stresses that the evolving regional mechanism remains militaristic
and is located ‘within national, rather than regional security frameworks, and largely
reactive in its response to conflicts’. He calls for the revision and strengthening of
the entire architecture in order for it to become predictive and anticipatory. In this
way, it will contribute meaningfully to understanding the ‘probable impact of
conflicts, the probable humanitarian assistance required, as well as identifying the
salient conditions determining the differential exposure of communities and
populations to conflicts’.

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 6 ECOWAS and the Dynamics of Conflict and Peace-building

Given the fact that the West African Diasporas are closely identified and linked
with conflicts in the region, Musa Abutudu and Crosdel Emuedo examine their
increasing role as active players in them. As he points out, the proportion of
migrants to the total population of West Africa is estimated to be 2.9 per cent
with Nigeria alone having 15 million of its citizens living abroad. One of the
factors that contribute to the increasing role of the Diasporas is the rapid
development of new communication technologies which has made it possible to
transmit information quickly and therefore enhancing the capacities to mobilise
across continents on common causes.
Another issue raised by the authors is that because of the unfavourable
conditions associated with living abroad where people are often discriminated
against on the basis of race, xenophobia and other factors, people in the Diasporas
have found it difficult to settle abroad. Hence, as a way out, they tend to focus on
their countries of origin. Often these people are forced to flee their countries for
several reasons ranging from economic hardships to political problems emanating
from the key role they play in the struggle against authoritarian regimes. For others,
relocation is a function of professional necessity. In most cases, these people lead
the struggle from abroad. This raises the question as to whether Diasporas are
conflict accelerators or moderators.
In his chapter on ‘ECOWAS and regional responses to conflicts’, Abdel-Fatau
Musah writes that the regional body has always responded to changing events in
the international scene. Thus, the initial attempts to address the issues of peace
and security were informed by the realities of Cold War politics. These were
reflected in the key normative documents on peace and security such as the 1978
Protocol on Non-Aggression, and the 1981 Protocol on Mutual Assistance in
Defence, which were ‘designed primarily to address external threats and
aggression’. However, by the mid-1980s, new global dynamics and local responses
had emerged to threaten ECOWAS’ integration efforts. He therefore stresses that
the recent transformation of ECOWAS from a Secretariat into a Commission,
which gives the organisation some supra-national status, has implications for its
integration drive at the institutional and programmatic levels including its work in
the field of peace and security.
On the theme of ‘ECOWAS and Human Security’, Olawale Ismail observes
that ‘despite the lull in rebellions and the commendable recalibration of ECOWAS
peace and security forces, the extent to which extant conflict prevention and
management mechanisms reflect or adequately takes care of emerging and possible
future security threats is doubtful’. Therefore, he critically interrogates how, where
and why human security is linked with the broader security debate in theory and
practice. Against this background, the chapter focuses on the ‘freedom from
fear’ component of the broader human security agenda. He ‘contends that

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 Jaye, Garuba & Amadi: Introduction 7

emerging sources of human and material destruction, displacement and disloca-

tion, and trans-border insecurity in the sub-region are inadequately reflected and/
or prioritised in ECOWAS’ peace and security architecture’. Significantly, he high-
lights the need for a West African perspective on human security that recognises
and prioritises the pervasive threats to the security of individuals and communi-
ties. Ismail is not convinced that the transformation of ECOWAS into a
supranational authority can enable it respond to the challenges of human security
challenges unless it clearly and effectively defines the human security normative
principle of intervention (overriding sovereignty).
In the concluding chapter, Thomas Jaye makes the point that it is only through
regional and collective efforts that peace and security can be consolidated in West
Africa. The basis for this contention is that the security of any one state or country
is indivisible from the rest of ECOWAS member states. He therefore argues that
there is the need to give critical thought to the reforming of the security sector,
not just in post-conflict societies, but in every country throughout the region. This
point is important because of the nature, scope and dimension of transnational
security threats and dilemmas facing the region. Finally, the chapter argues that as
important as a regional approach to security sector reform is, it will remain
inadequate to address the broader security needs of the people in the absence of
a regional approach to people-centred economic development; thus rekindling
the role of the state and such intergovernmental organisations as the ECOWAS in
leading the way for policy direction.

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