• CSOs, media practitioners call for dialogue, regional integration as countries withdraw from ECOWAS
By Lukman Olabiyi
•Participants at the event
The recent announcement by three military-led nations; Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso that they were pulling out of the West Africa regional bloc – Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has continued to generate concern among stakeholders in Africa, on the future of the continent.
On Sunday, February 4, the military leaders of three countries, in a joint statement, declared their withdrawal from ECOWAS. They accused the leadership of the regional bloc of ineptitude, saying that instead of helping their countries fight the security threats facing them, ECOWAS imposed “illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible” sanctions when they staged the coups “to take their destiny into their own hands.”
When ECOWAS was established in 1975 with 15 countries of the West African sub-region forming its member states then, there was a major focus on creating an economic unification to lift living standards and uphold economic development, but this aim has always being faced with different challenges. The situation has also been worsened by the withdrawal of some of its member states. The withdrawal of the three countries was first time in the bloc’s nearly 50 years of existence that its members are withdrawing in such a manner.
Worried by this development and also the indefinite postponement of elections in Senegal by President Macky Sall, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), led by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), West Africa Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) and Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), alongside media practitioners from various media organisations converged on Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria to deliberate and analyze the situation.
Top on their agenda at the gathering were issues of the stability of ECOWAS as a regional bloc of economic, human and political development that has been threatened in recent years by political instability and security challenges in some member states and measures required to avoid further instability and possible disintegration of the regional bloc which before now had been regarded as the template for regional integration in Africa.
Since August 2020, the region has recorded several coups where democratic governments have been toppled and constitutional procedures trampled.
At the end of the one-day event held on February 5, the participants which also include the West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP-Nigeria), Nigeria Network of NGOs (NGOs) and Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) called on ECOWAS to embrace dialogue in charting the course of regional integration among its members.
The CSOs and the representative of media organisations acknowledged the relevance of ECOWAS to the integration of the region with notable achievements, among which include; the free movement of persons, the trade liberalization scheme and, above all, the establishment of the Customs Union, with the entry into force of the Common External Tariff (CET) in 2015 which have contributed to furthering integration of the region.
In his welcome remarks, the Executive Director, of CISLAC, and Chairman, of Transition Monitoring Group, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani) stated that a more integrated West Africa is required to defeat violent extremism, terrorism and other trans-border crimes currently, bedevilling the ECOWAS region.
According to him, “There is no gainsaying that the measures undertaken by the community to promote and consolidate cooperation among member states on criminal matters such as the protocol on mutual assistance on defence matters and the convention on small arms and light weapons have greatly contributed to a regional effort at combating terrorism and crimes in the region. “Therefore, having a united ECOWAS is important to defeating terrorism and other organised crimes in the region.
“As civil society organisations in Nigeria and the West African region, we are resolute in working to ensure ECOWAS stays focused on promoting genuine democratisation processes in the region. It is against this backdrop that this CSO interactive meeting is holding to put out a common position which emphasises more political, economic and security stability for West Africa.
“On this note, CSOs are urging politicians in the region to desist from truncating democracy at the detriment of the people. It is disturbing to see the trend of events where politicians abuse democratic processes and ascribe to themselves arbitrary powers over constitutional governance. These trends are against the critical pillars of ECOWAS Vision 2050.
“In line with this, the CSOs in Nigeria and West Africa condemn the indefinite postponement of the February 25, 2024 election in Senegal without consulting widely with the people. This type of action is viewed as an abuse of power and must be rejected in the region as it is the type of undemocratic behaviour capable of instigating a military junta. It is therefore important for the government of Senegal to immediately fix a new date for the election to be held”.
In looking towards the actualization of ECOWAS Vision 2050 which shifts the focus from ECOWAS of States to ECOWAS of the People, conclusively, Rafsanjani said it was important to activate the National Focus Persons of ECOWAS to intensify and coordinate CSOs engagement towards the implementation and actualization of Vision 2050 to bring about peace and prosperity for all. Also speaking on ECOWAS Vision 2050, TMG’s Senior Programme Officer, Solomon Adoga, took stakeholders at the forum through an assessment of ECOWAS Vision 2020.
According to him, “The ECOWAS integration process is one of the most successful among all the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa.
“Adopted in 2007, and aimed at the eradication of poverty and the consolidation of regional peace and security as well as the promotion of sustainable social and economic development, the vision 2020 anchored on its slogan ‘moving from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of Peoples’, was based on five pillars – Peace and security, good governance, development of the region’s resources, economic and monetary integration; and promotion of the private sector.” He said, while ECOWAS made significant strides in various areas, especially in the advancements of regional integration, peace and security, economic cooperation, and infrastructure development, they were lacking in the area of peace, security and stability, with Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Niger as examples.
However, in his further explanation, he said ECOWAS Vision 2050, tagged, ‘ECOWAS of the Peoples: Peace and Prosperity for All’, has five pillars that would be beneficial to the region.
Speaking on the imperativeness of ECOWAS security, Group Features Editor, This Day Newspaper, Chiemelie Ezeobi, said, the objective of the ECOWAS is to strengthen member states’ capacities to respond to present and emerging threats and to deliver security and justice services to the state and its peoples, noting, however that the language barrier remains another major issue in integrating ECOWAS members’ security apparatus.
According to her, “There are reasons why members of the ECOWAS may never be united. For instance, how can Africa come together when we don’t even believe they are one? North Africa is like another continent entirely. A Cape Verdean, Moroccan, Egyptian or even Sudanese do not believe they are Africans.
“But let’s even bring it closer to home. How can ECOWAS members come together and stop seeing each other as enemy? They do not even trust each other. The cost of flight tickets to each ECOWAS state is too high, talk more about xenophobic attacks. They would rather allow foreigners to thrive and prosper than those from a fellow ECOWAS nation
“Also, where are we with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area? When this act was brought up, it was supposed to be the game changer like how we have that for the Schengen Nations.
“How far have we even gone to open up the AfCFTA region? Remember the Abidjan-Lagos corridor? The overreaching plan was for that corridor to serve as an emerging transnational on the coast of southern West Africa.
“Stretching from Abidjan to Lagos, it crosses five independent states (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria) from west to east, and includes two political capitals and many regional economic centres.”
She concluded that too much allegiance to world powers and taking orders that favour them as against Africa, made it difficult in implement most of ECOWAS laws. She also asserted that the perception that ECOWAS is a ‘toothless bulldog’, issue of alleged partiality when it comes to intervention, and weak leadership, remain a major barrier in the growth of the body, and by extension, the member states.