Accra-based veteran journalist, Mr. Francis Kokutse and Dr. Dayo Kayode, Ph.D, a Lagos, Nigeria-based public affairs analyst led the forum’s e-Discourse on the topic “ECOWAS and Regional Disintegration: A Beneath-the-surface Blame Game in West Africa”. Excerpts;
Would u say that as a group, ECOWAS has outlived its essence as a regional body?
Let me be blunt. ECOWAS has failed in its essence as a regional grouping. By this time, ECOWAS’ barriers should have been broken down. Our leaders in May 1979, promulgated the first protocol on the free movement of people. Under this protocol, they wanted citizens in the region to “enter, reside, and establish.” Since then, we have not been able to move towards integration rather, we have moved back on what should unite us. Take a look at our passports and the ECOWAS cards, these were all meant to integrate us. But, go to the borders and you will realize that we have a long way to go.
Since the inception of ECOWAS in around 1975, I have never seen the community showcasing any of its essentials. Aside from the military cooperation during the formation of ECOMOG (which even some school of thoughts have faulted), what again?
The powers that be in the outside world has never allowed the issue of ECO the common currency to work; equally, the ECOWAS passport which is to encourage regional trading activities without any restrictions had been in shambles. Has the members not been closing boarders against each other and giving more support to other non member nations against member nations. Where then is the essence of belonging to such regional contraptions?
What is responsible for the group’s loss of respect and honour from the member states?
I will point fingers at our leaders who took over after 1992. The democratically elected leaders came into office and were only concerned with enjoying the perks attached to their new roles as Presidents, and so didn’t care about integration in the region. Besides, most of the ECOWAS decisions were taken long before they came into office and so they were not aware. The technocrats who should advise them are too young to remember some of the decisions on files, they have refused to read. Take the ECOWAS Brown Card under which a vehicle from Nigeria to Togo is covered under insurance has not received the publicity it deserves and the officials whose duty it is to make it work are sleeping on the job. There are many things that our leaders have refused or forgotten to do.
Nice. To the extent that member states especially the smaller states within the regional group have not been enjoying the economies of scale that are supposed to be enjoyed as members, then, there can’t be respect.
Some member states have been seeing some others as bullies and opportunists. How else can one access Nigeria’s attitude to the Nigeriens for demanding their total freedom from France? How do we explain the closure of our boarders against our neighbour Benin Republic. Where then does the cooperation lies.
These and many others will not allow respect and honour for each other.
Some have called for the disbandment of ECOWAS. What is your view?
With all intents and purposes, when some of my earlier points with that of my co resource person from Ghana are being considered appropriately, the immediate disbandment of ECOWAS shouldn’t be a thing to be debated.
It will be wrong to disband ECOWAS because if it is given the right direction, poverty in West Africa will be eradicated. When the right leaders were in charge in the region, ECOMOG for instance, and despite its failures, was put in place to solve the Liberian crisis. Sierra Leone was saved. I am not sure ECOWAS is ready to provide the leadership to save any country in the region today.
There seems to be a dichotomy Between the francophone and the anglophone member-states, indicating an apparent lack of synergy. Where is the lack of unity in the group coming from?
UEMOA or the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union was formed in January 1994. Members of this Union are those who belong to the CFA zone. This shouldn’t have happened because if you look critically, it came to rival ECOWAS that was established in 1975. As a journalist, l have covered ECOWAS summits from 1985, when they celebrated the tenth anniversary and can say that, the Francophone/Anglophone rivalry is always at play. We need to find a way of ending this.
When we conduct a thorough spacial and demographic analysis based on these two divides, we will find out that, the anglophone member states combined are bigger and more sophisticated than the francophone member states combined.
In view, the francophone members often perceived themselves as having lesser authority/voice to the anglophones within the community. So, to make themselves more audible and visible they tend to form another kind of serious bonding among themselves.
For example, you will never see either Niger or Benin Republics closing their boarders against Nigeria or Togo against Ghana because they see them as big brothers; while the so called big brothers have been doing otherwise. If there’s a military coup’detat in Nigeria today, who is Niger Republic or Mali or Burkina Faso to raise objections?
In view of some of these things, we tend to see more cooperation among the francophone members than the anglophones more so that, they know that, they are on their own without any form of assistance from their so called big brothers to join hands with them in getting their freedom from France – instead, they will still be colluding with France against them. Independence without freedom – who does that?
Little wonder we now have The Sahel Nations Union formed by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic. More to join in the coming days.
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What’s your assessment of ECOWAS intervention during the fall of some member states under the military rule?
The style of ECOWAS intervention was very faulty.
These member states are sovereign states in the first instance and ECOWAS has no temerity to bully any nation as to who rules them or not.
These nations are saying that, their political leaders were conniving with France to keep them under its tutelage even after independence without freedom. They were demanding for their freedom away from the aprons of their former colonial masters; rather than ECOWAS to support them as members of their regional group, Nigeria especially was threatening sanctions. ECOWAS chairman in person of Mr Tinubu should have known better if he was not having a hidden agenda then; remember he was still fighting for the affirmation of his election.
If I were the chairman of ECOWAS, all I would have done was to give Niger Republic absolute support for demanding for its freedom from France. Thereafter, sit down with the military leaders to design a course of action plans towards return to democratic rule QED.
With this, ECOWAS would have become more popular and acceptable.
I think the political problem in West Africa has not been properly addressed. The kind of democracy that suit us must be put in place to help push development. Looks like the insistence on Western democracy that we don’t properly understand is creating a lot of problems for us. Once we address the political issues, there will be economic development and no military intervention will take place for ECOWAS to act.
The formation of the Sahel Group and others that may spring up later
These three member nations of ECOWAS did not threaten to exit the group as some commentators had been saying rather, they have written to the leadership of the community notifying them of their immediate exit.
When one is in a union and the essence of membership are not respected nor achieved, what will you expect?
If their exit from the union will make them to attain their full independence and freedom from France without unnecessary interventions from their neighbours why not?.
Rather than the leadership of ECOWAS to give them support in achieving their objective, what are they seeing? òòsà boo le gbèmí, fimísílé bí o se bámi – if the gods can’t assist, it had better leave it the way he’d met it.
We must first look at Boko Haram, how did it come into being, and what has been done to solve it. Without providing a solution to this, it will be wrong for Nigeria, the pillar of ECOWAS to be looking at fighting terror groups in the Sahel. I say this because there is some links between these organisations. So, Nigeria should provide the leadership.
Could the group have done better, especially in the Niger military coup fallout? How?
I have a problem with these attempts by ECOWAS to act against military interventions in the various countries. Why should ECOWAS look the other way when democratically elected Presidents do the wrong things, and claim they have no right to intervene. So, what right do they have to interfere in a domestic affairs when soldiers take over?
Oh yes, the community would have done better just as I postulated earlier. Support your fellow brother in its quest for freedom and then join him in designing the action plans for a return to civil rule.
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have pulled out of the union. Can we say they are justified to do that?
They have their reasons and no one can blame them. ECOWAS turned to look the other way when the people in these three countries were calling for help. This is the first crack and if not properly addressed, ECOWAS will break up. ECOWAS has not been working well. It has an Early Warning Directorate and has trained “Experts”, l happen to be one of those trained, but we were not put to work. If we were working, ECOWAS would have known that things were not going right in the three countries long before the soldiers took over. So, it is the inability of ECOWAS to work effectively that has brought about this.
Why not. They are fully justified as stated earlier in my submission which I will repeat here again.
When one is in a union and the essence of membership are not respected nor achieved, what will you expect?
If their exit from the union will make them to attain their full independence and freedom from France without unnecessary interventions from their neighbours why not?.
Rather than the leadership of ECOWAS to give them support in achieving their objective, what are they seeing? òòsà boo le gbèmí, fimísílé bí o se bámi – if the gods can’t assist, it had better leave it the way he’d met it.
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Some have blamed the ECOWAS leadership, particularly Nigeria for the hasty decision on Niger, which is now the last straw that has broken the proverbial camel’s back. What’s your view?
President Tinubu didn’t react properly. He came into power with a lot of problems himself and made some knee-jerk reactions. The call to intervene was not properly coordinated because the coup leaders were made to look like they were subordinates to the ECOWAS leaders. In a crisis you don’t go to provide solution with such arrogance. I remember when the ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff met in Accra, to plan to intervene in the three countries, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa said something profound, that the media missed, “we are not robots in the hands of our leaders.” That should have made the ECOWAS leaders sit up.
Oh yes, that’s could be very true.
This is more so that, Nigeria was holding the chairmanship seat of the regional union in the person of Mr Tinubu Bola Ahmed.
We must remember that, at that time, he was looking everywhere for international validation of his subjective election while also finding means of international acceptance of his leadership despite all the “if you release my records it will give me irreparable personality dent”. The Chicago gate.
Why then will he not sell his brother Niger Republic into more slavery just as our traditional rulers of those days sold many of their subjects to slavery so as to get recognized by the imperialists.
This theory has led the ECOWAS through its leadership to take some hasty decisions rather than going the diplomatic way which invariably will give the needed support to a brother nation.
We have seen the effect lack of cohesion in ECOWAS on the West African region. Do u foresee any further disintegration if urgent steps are not taken?
The leaders must change their attitudes. When you see the leaders at the various Summits that have come after 1992, you will notice there is no friendship among them. General Abacha had though not a good relationship with Flt Lt Rawlings, they were able to make the organisation work. President Obasanjo didn’t get on well with President Rawlings. It is the two countries that drive ECOWAS and so, relationships at the top really matter. President Mahama and President Jonathan had a good relationship and so, things were done. President Akufo-Addo and President Buhari didn’t have a very clear working relationship and it lulled a lot of things that should have been done.
Oh yes. Very soon, we are going to witness military incursion in other francophone countries like Benin Republic, Togo, Ivory Coast etc and these countries are likely to form alliances with other francophone countries.
This will not happen if only urgent steps are taken to free these nations from the aprons of France.
Finally, How can the group be brought back to the glorious old days?
Improved friendship among the leaders. Then, the technocrats must go back to read the files of things that happened in the past to move the organisation, and it’s people forward. ECOWAS must also make the “enter, reside and establish,” protocol work.
The union must be re-energised through some of the defects expressed above.
The democratic leaders must show the examples of good governance by choosing the well being of its people first; the soci-economic development of member nations must at all times be in the front burner.
Their must be uttermost respect for each other’s sovereignty without any biases.
Members must always cooperate and support each other against any form of external oppressions.
The essence of the group as it relates to economic cooperation, open boarders and free movement of trade should be highly respected. Etc.
This edition of e-Discourse, a weekly event organised by Platforms Africa, a forum created by award-winning African journalist, Adeola Yusuf, is moderated by Accra, Ghana-based veteran journalist, Francis KOKUTSE
