ABSTRACT.
The purpose of my research is to examine the roles and contributions of nigeria in the development of regional organization with ECOWAS as the case study
Primary and secondary sources of data were used in the collection and collation of data Which was generated from relevant empirical literature, government documents, gazettes and series of unstructured and informal interviews with few Nigerian diplomats who were present or have participated in ECOWAS regional development and decision making phases And this enabled the total capturing of the study Nigeria has played a major role in achieving ECOWAS objectives and it’s original objectives is based on regional organization. The primary objective for the creation of ECOWAS as regional organization was the attainment of regional economic development, although, the challenges of regional security threats have been a constant concern of ECOWAS countries. In fact Nigeria as a country had been a major source of assistance in achieving the sole objective of the formation of this organization which has one way or the other provided the necessary assistance the member states and Africa in general In terms of regional security nigeria has contributed immensely to the regional security and development through provision of soldiers for ECOMOG. Nigeria has the strongest military in terms of her support for ECOMOG and judging by the disputes and wars between and within countries in which Nigeria has intervened.
Nigeria has played a major role in the stabilisation of regional organization formation and security with the region of West Africa and Africa as a whole.
This study also explored the inter agency frame work for conflict analysis (IAFCA) a frame work developed by the UN working group UNDG-ECHA and it focuses on three important elements peacekeeping: conflict analysis, response and strategic and program planning. This framework is useful for this study analysing Nigeria’s keeping roles in West Africa with reference to ECOMOG. Nigeria has contributed enormously to the regional and sub regional resolution of conflicts which has cost the country billions of dollars and also man power (soldiers)
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Approval Page………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Certification…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7
- Background to the Study……………………………………………………………………………….. 10-13
- Research Questions…………………………………………………………………………………….. 13-14
- Significance of the study…………………………………………………………………………….. 15
- Scope of the Study…………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
- Organisation of the study………………………………………………………………………………… 16
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
- Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
- Concept of Regional Development……………………………………………………………………….. 17-20
- An Overview of ECOWAS as a regional Organisation……………………………………………… 20-22
- Concept of Regional Security…………………………………………………………………………….. 23-24
- Nigeria‘s Hegemonic Leadership in ECOWAS Peace and Security……………
- Theoretical Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………………………. 25
- Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
- The Theory of Regional Integration……………………………………………………………………….. 25-28
- Inter Agency Framework for Conflict Analysis Theory……………………………………………… 28-32
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Preamble………………………………………………… 33
- Research Design……………………………………… 33
- Method of Data Collection…………………………………………….. 33-34
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
- Introduction……………………………………………….. 35
- Analysis of Research Questions/Objectives……………………………………….. 35-47
- Discussion of Findings……………………………………………………………………. 47-50
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
- Introduction………………………………………………………. 51
- Summary……………………………………………………………… 51-53
- Recommendations………………………………………………… 53-54
- Conclusion…………………………………………………………….. 55
BIBLOGRAPHY…………………………………………………. 55-58
APPENDIX……………………………………………… 59-60
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Regional organizations are a subcategory of international organization; they can be financial and nonfinancial institutions. They consist of those supranational institutions whose members are governments or monetary authorities of economies that are located in a specific region of the world. Regional organizations, for instance, Currency Union Central Banks (CUCB), are created for many purposes include supporting, guiding, and even governing aspects of the economic relationships or integration processes among the regions‘ economies. As with other international organizations, regional organizations such as Economic Community Of West Africa States (ECOWAS) are established by political agreement among organization members that has the status of international treaties, and are accorded appropriate privileges and immunities and are not subject to the laws and regulations of the economies in which they are located.
In practice also, the UN has begun to work with regional and intergovernmental organizations. Some of these organizations, like OSCE, AU, ECOWAS and NATO, have made conflict prevention part of their core mandates and have assumed active roles in selected conflicts. NATO and the UN have been involved jointly in conflicts in the Balkans, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. ECOWAS and the UN have played a significant role in Liberia where ECOWAS created a military observer group (ECOMOG) in 1990. It has also deployed forces to Sierra Leone (1998), Guinea Bissau (1998), Côte d‘Ivoire (2002). The UN Operation in Liberia (UNOMIL), set up in 1993, became the first operation to be undertaken in cooperation with a peacekeeping operation established by another organisation, in this case ECOWAS. More recently, the AU has been involved in Chad, Côte d‘Ivoire and most importantly in Darfur. In this regard resolution 1706 which mandated innovative and substantial UN assistance to AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is a possible benchmark for the future (Abba, 2000).
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional organization of a group of fifteen West African countries in November 1975.It has its secretariat and headquarters in Abuja. Nigeria. The original objectives of the organization as contained in the ECOWAS treaty are among other things to promote co-operation and regional integration leading to the establishment of an economic union in West Africa in order to raise the standards of living of its people and to maintain economic stability. Established in 1975 originally as a regional organization to essentially promote the economic integration of the fifteen Member States, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been gradually transformed, under the pressure of political events, into an organization also responsible for finding solutions to armed conflicts and other political crisis which were undermining peace and security within the community space (Adebayo, 2007).
Basically, looking at the roles and relevance of Nigeria in regional organisation of ECOWAS was strategically set to achieve this objective, to a large extent hampered by political crisis in the region and rivalries between heads of states for the leadership of regional organizations, there was the need to gradually attach greater importance to peace, defense and security issues Aluko, 1981; Rhodes, 1995). The decade of the 1990‘s has been particularly decisive for ECOWAS evolution into an organization capable of intervening diplomatically and militarily in cases of serious threats to the security of a member state and within the community space in general ECOWAS consequently played a key role in the arduous resolution of protracted and devastating civil wars in Liberia (1990-1997 and 2003-2007) and Sierra Leone (1991-2002) which sometimes spilled over into guinea and threatened to cause unrest in the entire west Africa region. ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group drawn from the Nigerian federal army and other member states of the organization. This was also seen in the Malian crisis to prevent the spilling of the crisis into other parts of West Africa especially Mali‘s neighboring countries.
