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ABSTRACT
The last two decades in West Africa have witnessed the emergence and persistence of diverse forms of insecurity – in particular, the recession of democracy and the rise of terrorism and transnational organised crime. This article explores the effectiveness of the region’s security architecture with a focus on the peace and security framework of the Economic Community of West African States, the Multinational Joint Task Force and the G5 Sahel, a framework formulated in response to the above threats. The article identifies and examines specific institutional lapses, including gaps in regime security, insufficient efforts to build state relations and ineffective implementation of the security policies that do exist. This article argues that these institutional lapses drive the persistence of identified insecurity in the region.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
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4 Musah Abdel-Fatau, ‘West Africa: Governance and Security in a Changing Region’ (Africa Working Paper Series, New York: International Peace Institute, 2009); Abdullahi Abubakar, ‘Rural Banditry, Regional Security, and Integration in West Africa,’ Journal of Social and Political Sciences 2, no. 3 (2019): 644–54.
5 Alan Bryden, Boubacar N’Diaye and Funmi Olonisakin, Challenges of Security Sector Governance in West Africa (Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, 2008).
6 United Nations, ‘United Nations Charter,’ 2023, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text.
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12 Mohammed Cherkaoui, Emerging Security Challenges in North and West Africa (Washington, DC: Arab Centre, 2017), http://arabcenterdc.org/policy_analyses/emerging-security-challenges-in-north-and-west-africa/ (accessed 20 November 2020).
13 Lake and Morgan, Building Security in a New World.
14 Allen Adum, Okwuchukwu Godson, Ogochukwu Okafor, Ogochukwu Ekwenchi and Stella Nnatu, ‘Addressing the Emerging Security Challenges from Transhumance in West Africa: The ECOWAS Perspective,’ International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Research 5, no. 2 (2019): 71–9.
15 Barry Buzan and Ole Weaver, Regions and Power (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
16 International Crisis Group, ‘Implementing Peace and Security Architecture (III): West Africa,’ Africa Report No. 224, 2016, https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/57206d484.pdf.
17 Amanda Lucey and Moyosore Arewa, ‘Sustainable Peace Driving the African Peace and Security Architecture through ECOWAS,’ Institute for Security Studies, Paper 301, 2016; International Crisis Group, ‘Implementing Peace and Security Architecture: West Africa,’ 2016, https://africacenter.org/security-article/implementing-peace-security-architecture-west-africa/; Victor Akran and Okechukwu Lawrence Udeagbala, ‘ECOWAS Regional Security Architecture for Counterterrorism and Counter Insurgency in West Africa: A Discussion of Case Studies and Challenges,’ Kampala International University Journal of Humanities 7, no. 1 (2022): 197–209, https://www.ijhumas.com/ojs/index.php/kiuhums/article/view/1424/1503.
18 Interview with Dr Babatunde Afolabi – former programme officer, Political Affairs, ECOWAS Commission, 2021.
19 Interview with Retired Brigadier General Bala Saleh, 2021.
20 Interview with Retired Major General Inuwa Idris, 2021.
21 Interview with retired senior intelligence officer, 2021.
22 Tony Chafer, D Gordon Cumming and V D Velde Roel, ‘France’s interventions in Mali and the Sahel: A historical institutionalist perspective,’ Journal of Strategic Studies 43, no. 4 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2020.1733987.
23 Alhaji Bah, ‘West Africa, from a Security Complex to a Security Community,’ African Security Studies 14, no. 2 (2005): 77–83; Uchechukwu Johnson Agbo, Nsemba Edward Lenshie and Raji Rafiu Boye, ‘West Africa: From Peacekeeping to Peace Enforcement. ECOWAS and the Regulations of Regional Security,’ Conflict Studies Quarterly 22 (2018): 18–35.
24 Interview with retired senior intelligence officer, 2021; Interview with Dr Babatunde Afolabi – former programme officer, Political Affairs, ECOWAS Commission, 2021; Interview with retired Brigadier General Bala Saleh, 2021.
25 Retired Brigadier General Bala Saleh, interview excerpt, 2021.
26 Danielle Berswick and Anne Hammerstad, ‘African Agency in a Changing Security Environment: Sources, Opportunities and Challenges,’ Conflict, Security and Development 13, no. 5 (2013): 471–86.
27 Interview with soldier in MNJTF, 2023.
28 Alhaji Bah, ‘West Africa, from a Security Complex to a Security Community,’ African Security Studies 14, no. 2 (2005): 77–83.
29 Karl Deutsch, Political Community at the International Level: Problems of Definitions and Measurement (New York: Doubleday, 1954).
30 International Crisis Group, ‘What Role for the Multinational Joint Task Force in Fighting Boko Haram?’, Report No. 291, 2020, https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/291-what-role-multinational-joint-task-force-fighting-boko-haram (accessed 18 October 2021).
31 Amitav Acharya, ‘Regional Military-Security Cooperation in the Third World: A Conceptual Analysis of the Relevance and Limitations of ASEAN,’ Journal of Peace Research 29, no. 1 (1992): 7–21.
32 William Assanvo, ‘A Turning Point for West Africa’s Fight Against Organised Crime?’ ENACT Observer, 2018, https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/a-turning-point-for-west-africas-fight-against-organised-crime (accessed 22 September 2020).
33 Judith Vorrath, ‘Organised Crime and Development: Challenges and Policy Options in West Africa’s Fragile States,’ SWP German Institute for International and Security Affairs Report No. 9, 2016, https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2015RP09_vrr.pdf (accessed 29 September 2020).
34 Africa Center for Strategic Studies, ‘Case Study One: The G-5 Sahel, 2019, https://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-08-CT-CVE-Case-Studies-EN.pdf (accessed 10 December 2023); Alassane Camara, ‘The G5 Sahel: Security Implementation and Challenges,’ Open Journal of Political Science 10, no. 3 (2020): 493–506, https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=101399.
35 Axel Klein, ‘When Agendas Collide: Combating Drugs and Organised Crime in West Africa,’ Global Drug Policy Observatory Policy Brief No. 4, 2014, https://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/When-agendas-collide-Combating-drugs-and-organised-crime-in-West-Africa.pdf (accessed 28 September 2020).
36 M Green, ‘Coups in Africa, Even in ECOWAS,’ 26 September 2023, Wilson Center, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/coups-africa-even-ecowas.
37 Howard French, ‘Are China and Russia Bad for Africa? That’s the Wrong Question,’ Foreign Policy, 2023, 1 May (2023), https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/05/01/china-russia-africa-economy-loans-wagner-group-development/ (accessed 10 December 2023); Bhaso Ndzendze, ‘Africa is Being Courted by China, Russia and the US. Why the Continent Shouldn’t Pick Sides,’ The Conversation, 2023, https://theconversation.com/africa-is-being-courted-by-china-russia-and-the-us-why-the-continent-shouldnt-pick-sides-210516 (accessed 10 December 2023).
38 Jude Okafor and Uzodinma Okafor, ‘ECOWAS and Democratic Reversal in West Africa: Re-visiting Military Incursion on the State Leadership,’ International Affairs and Global Strategy 37 (2015): 120–8, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234670783.pdf; Jon Temin and Isabel Linzer, ‘West Africa’s Democratic Progress is Slipping Away, even as Region’s Significance Grows,’ Freedom House Perspectives, 19 March (2020).
39 Interview with Dr Babatunde Afolabi – former programme officer, Political Affairs, ECOWAS Commission, 2021.
40 ECOWAS Declaration of Political Principles was adopted in Abuja on 6 July, 1991. https://ecowas.int/fundamental-principles-2/.
41 Christof Hartmann, ‘ECOWAS and the Restoration of Democracy in the Gambia,’ Sage Journals – Africa Spectrum 52, no. 1 (2017): 85–99.
42 EndSARs protests – social movements and series of protests targeted towards the end of police brutality in Nigeria.
43 France 24, ‘Malian Protesters Regroup to Demand the Resignation of President Keita,’ 2020, https://www.france24.com/en/20200811-malian-protesters-regroup-to-demand-the-resignation-of-president-keita (accessed 10 December 2023).
44 Emily Cole, ‘Five Things to Know About Mali’s Coup,’ United States Institute of Peace, 2020, https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/08/five-things-know-about-malis-coup (accessed 20 October 2021).
45 Marl Duerksen, ‘The Dismantling of Benin’s Democracy,’ Spotlight African Center for Strategic Studies, 2021, https://africacenter.org/spotlight/dismantling-benin-democracy/ (accessed 12 October 2021).
46 Interview with retired senior intelligence officer, Abuja, Nigeria, 2021.
47 Chatham House, ‘Nigeria’s Security Policy Priorities; Governance, Internal Cohesion and Regional Engagement,’ 17 July 2023, Abuja, Nigeria.
48 Jon Temin and Isabel Linzer, ‘West Africa’s Democratic Progress is Slipping Away, even as Region’s Significance Grows,’ Freedom House Perspectives, 19 March (2020). For instance, Gambia’s former president Yahaya Jammeh was exiled with a fortune valued at $11.4 million believed to be from the state coffers. Despite the ECOWAS’ legal mandate to intervene in domestic politics of member states in relation to human rights violations and that member states fulfil core principles of democratic governance, Jammeh is yet to be prosecuted for corruption and human rights violations. See Bappah H Yaha, ‘ECOWAS and the Promotion of Democratic Governance in West Africa,’ Journal of International Relations and Foreign Policy 2, no. 1 (2014): 85–102.
49 Osei Baffour Frimpong, ‘Violent Extremism in West Africa: Are Current Responses Enough?’, Wilson Center Africa Program Report No. 28, 2020, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/violent-extremism-west-africa-are-current-responses-enough; Aning Kwesi and Edu-Afful Fiifi, ‘African Agency in R2P: Interventions by African Union and ECOWAS in Mali, Cote D’Ivoire and Libya,’ International Studies Review 18, no. 1 (2016): 120–133; Christof Hartmann, ‘ECOWAS and the restoration of democracy in the Gambia,’ Africa Spectrum 1 (2017): 85–99.
50 Institute of Security Studies, ‘ECOWAS Struggles to Address Violent Extremism,’ 2019, https://reliefweb.int/report/world/ecowas-struggles-address-violent-extremism (accessed 20 September 2020).
51 International Crisis Group, ‘Finding the Right Role for the G5 Sahel Joint Force,’ 2017, https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/burkina-faso/258-force-du-g5-sahel-trouver-sa-place-dans-lembouteillage-securitaire (accessed 20 September 2020).
52 Tala Al-Khalifa, The Gulf and Southeast Asia: Regional Security Complex and Regional Security Community, a Comparative Study (Exeter: University of Exeter, 2012).
53 Interview with Retired Major General Idris Inuwa, Nigeria, 2021.
54 Chatham House Roundtable, participant discussion excerpt, 2023.
55 Olajide Akanji, ‘Sub-regional Security Challenge: ECOWAS and the War on Terrorism in West Africa,’ Sage Journals – Insight on Africa (2019), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0975087818805842. Institute of Security Studies, ‘ECOWAS Struggles to Address Violent Extremism,’ 2019, https://reliefweb.int/report/world/ecowas-struggles-address-violent-extremism (accessed 20 September 2020).
56 Fergus Kelly, ‘Ahead of ECOWAS Counter-Terror Summit, JNIM Targets G5 Sahel Forces in Mali,’ The Defence Post, 13 September 2019, https://www.thedefensepost.com/2019/09/13/mali-jnim-g5-sahel-dioungani-ecowas/ (accessed 22 September 2020).
57 Olajide Akanji, ‘Sub-regional Security Challenge: ECOWAS and the War on Terrorism in West Africa,’ Sage Journals – Insight on Africa (2019), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0975087818805842.
58 Jan Grebe, ‘Cooperation or Competition? Security in West Africa between ECOWAS and the G5,’ Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Peace and Security (2018), https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/14998.pdf (accessed 22 September 2020).
59 Interview with retired Brig. Gen. Bala Saleh, 2021.
60 Acharya, ‘Regional Military-Security Cooperation in the Third World'.
61 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, ‘Transnational Organised Crime in West Africa: A Threat Assessment,’ United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Report, 2013, https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tocta/West_Africa_TOCTA_2013_EN.pdf (accessed 28 September 2020).
62 Assanvo, ‘A Turning Point for West Africa’s Fight'.
63 Alan Bryden, Boubacar N’Diaye and Funmi Olonisakin, Challenges of Security Sector Governance in West Africa (Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), 2008); Abdullahi Abubakar, ‘Rural Banditry, Regional Security, and Integration in West Africa,’ Journal of Social and Political Sciences 2, no. 3 (2019): 644–54.
64 Mark Shaw, Tuesday Reitano and Marcena Hunter, ‘Comprehensive Assessment of Drug Trafficking and Organised Crime in West and Central Africa,’ African Union, 2014, https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/30220-doc-organized_crime_in_west_and_central_africa_-_july_2014_-_abridged_summary_english.pdf (accessed 28 September 2020).
65 Lucia Bird, ‘West Africa’s Cocaine Corridor: Building a Subregional Response,’ Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, Global Initiative Policy Brief, https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/West-Africas-Cocaine-Corridor-GITOC.pdf (accessed 18 October 2021).
66 Klein, ‘When Agendas Collide'.
67 Assanvo, ‘A Turning Point for West Africa’s Fight'.
68 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, ‘Transnational organised crime in West Africa: A threat assessment,’ United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Report, 2013, https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tocta/West_Africa_TOCTA_2013_EN.pdf (accessed 28 September 2020).
69 Africa Center for Strategic Studies, ‘Case Study One: The G-5 Sahel'.
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Ebimboere Seiyefa
Ebimboere Seiyefa is a lecturer in Baze University in Abuja, Nigeria, and head of the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy. She is the author of Why Organised Violence Thrives in Nigeria? The Problem of Elite Political Culture. She holds a PhD in international relations and social studies from Coventry University. Her recent projects and publications include: ‘Guns for Hire: A Growing Industry of political Violence in West Africa'; ‘Elite Political Culture and its Link to Political Violence'; ‘Climate Change Impact on Regional Security in West Africa', and ‘Governance for Security and Counterinsurgency in Nigeria’. Her research expertise and interests include governance for security in West Africa. She is also the head of research in the Conflict Research Network West Africa.