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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
A retired soldier, Chief Desmond Odoh, has called for the institutionalization of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), for effective operations in Africa.
Odoh made the call during the unveiling of his new book titled “ECOMOG in Liberia: Policies, Politics and Strategies” on Sunday in Enugu.
According to him, ECOMOG operations in Africa were a success, adding that it should be institutionalised in a way that every country will have a standing number of soldiers ready to be mobilized for ECOMOG within 24 hours for operation.
He added that anybody that had experience of what happened in Liberia would say that ECOMOG was the best thing that Africa could give to the world for peace during war.
On what inspired him into writing the book, Odoh explained that his intention was not to write the book for publication, saying, “I was just jotting down my experiences so that when I came back to Nigeria I will be able to communicate it to my friends but at the end made up mind to publish as a book..
“But as I continued jotting, it continued to swell and I started seeing reasons I should reach out to a wider audience.
“I started questioning some policies, politics being played and strategies adopted by ECOMOG in the pursuit of that peace in Liberia,” he said.
“The book is so unique because I did not tell how many people that I killed or kilometer I trekked or days that I starved. I concentrated on those issues I was questioning. African soldiers will learn so many lessons from this book,” he stressed.
Odoh, who said he joined the Army in 1994 and retired in 2004 after serving for 10 years , explained that the book had 10 chapters and 188 pages.
Reviewing the book, the former Vice Chancellor of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Prof. Cyprian Onyeji, said he enjoyed reading the book due to author’s eloquence and clarity of his presentation coupled with the enormous amount of information of ECOMOG activities in Liberia.
He said: “Every book has its strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of this book lie in the uniqueness and writing style of the author which portrays him as an expert in the use of the English language.
“His style of writing is very engaging and captivating. The operational and diplomatic lapses that should be addressed for a more efficient operation of the intervention were to be redeployed in other instances, were clearly presented.
“The overall reading experience is enhanced by the author’s ability to paint a vivid picture of any scenario he is describing and I cannot see any major weakness of this book since it is an account of the author’s personal experiences,” he said.
Onyeji further recommended the book for students of history, public analysts, government officials and policy makers, saying it would be a veritable source of reference for ideas on modalities for countering crises and challenges similar to the ECOMOG situation in Liberia.
Earlier, the Chairman of the event, Sir Cajetan Agu, described the book as a remarkable work as well as the author’s personal understanding of the policies, politics and strategies that played out in Liberia.
This, he said, included the activities that led to disarming of the various rebel groups in the country, adding that the book would serve as a tribute to soldiers that gave their services for stability in Africa.
“Let us remember the great lessons learned in Liberia and as a soldier in Liberia, the author was able to define the policies, politics and strategies in bringing lasting peace in Liberia by giving insight into the remote and immediate cause of the war.
“The disarming of different rebel groups led to the democratic elected Government in Liberia.We are glad that our son, Desmond Odoh was part of this project that returned peace to Liberia,” he said.
While commending the author, Agu said the book was an outcome of hardwork and dedication.
He, however, recommended the book to the wide knowledge of the general public specifically, the military training institutions especially now Nigeria was experiencing a series of violence in different parts of the country.
