The biggest challenge faced by countries around West Africa has been insecurity. Nearly all of our countries within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are dealing with insecurity in one form or the other. In some countries, such as Burkina Faso, the ruling military regime faces an almost existential battle against armed groups. The instability that terrorist organisations have brought to our region has been one of the biggest barriers to our collective development.
Just last week in Northern Nigeria, a series of explosions carried out by female suicide bombers in Borno state saw the deaths of around 32 people and many injured, according to the BBC. This attack happened in Borno State, a state that has been long ravaged by attacks by terrorist groups operating within Northern Nigeria. Borno State had been the centre of the insurgency led by Boko Haram for over a decade, which led to the deaths of over 40,000 people and led to the displacement of millions of Nigerians.
This attack has renewed fears of a possible uptick in such major violent attacks again within the state. Borno is not an outlier, many states throughout Nigeria are faced with high levels of insecurity as a result of armed groups operating throughout the country. Although we do not hear as much about major attacks from Boko Haram, they alongside other armed groups still pose such a threat within the country.
These sorts of conflicts with armed groups are present throughout West Africa. The threat comes not only from Islamist extremist groups but also from other armed factions, including separatist forces and ethnic militias. The devastation that these armed groups have brought to West Africa cannot be overstated. The amount of death and destruction that have been brought upon our most vulnerable communities has been immense.
There are numerous communities within West Africa that have essentially been held hostage to the whims of these armed groups in areas where government forces are scarce. Our most vulnerable communities, mostly within rural areas, have on multiple occasions fallen victims to the atrocities committed by these insurgents.
For us in Nigeria, the heartbreaking images of the hundreds of the Chibok schoolgirls that had been kidnapped by Boko Haram, remain in our memories. Over the last few years, we have seen similar kidnappings taking place of school children, who are then held for ransom by the perpetrators. Similarly, images of massacres broadcast on social media have become a tragic hallmark of the terrorist insurgency in our country. Similar experiences have been felt throughout West Africa.
Another unfortunate result of these high levels of insecurity has been the increase in military coups that have taken place within West Africa. Today, four member states within ECOWAS, are currently under the rule of military juntas. And in nearly each instance when a coup had taken place, the worsening security situation had been cited as the reasoning behind the military takeover. The military juntas would claim that the civilian governments had been unable to properly deal with the insurgency, as a result it had become a necessity that they take over in order for them to restore order.
This rise in military takeovers has seen a major breakdown in the relationships between member states within ECOWAS. As ECOWAS has a commitment to democratic rule (although many states within ECOWAS do not adhere to democratic principles), military coups are seen as unacceptable by member states. That is why we have seen the countries that have had their governments fall to coups have been suspended by ECOWAS and have had sanctions placed on their economies.
These sanctions have been a source of major tensions between ECOWAS and the military juntas. Culminating in an exchange of threats between ECOWAS nations and the militaries in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, after ECOWAS threatened military action against the junta in Niger in order to restore Niger’s civilian government. After that, relations between the two sides continued to deteriorate until eventually Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced that they would be permanently withdrawing from ECOWAS.
It is clear that our current strategy within West Africa, where our countries have sought to address the insurgency largely on their own, has not been successful. Pretty much ever since the formation of ECOWAS, there have been efforts made towards the formation of a regional armed force. However, these efforts have largely been unsuccessful. We previously had ECOMOG, the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group, that had intervened in conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia, however, that is now a relic of the past.
Other than ECOMOG which we had in the past, West African nations have failed to come to consensus on the formation of any kind of regional security force. In fact, when military juntas in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their plan to fully withdraw from ECOWAS, they stated that ECOWAS failed in aiding their countries’ fight against insurgents operating within their territories. This more than anything I think highlights the need for a regional force operating within West Africa.
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of the current instability of the last few years has been the renewal of discussions about the formation of a joint regional force. In the last week, there had been talks held between West African nations in Abuja on creating a joint regional security force to combat terrorism. According to Reuters, the discussions had been about the potential size of the security force and the funds required to establish and operate it annually.
The proposed plan that has been discussed involved the formation of a military force containing around 5,000 soldiers, and it is estimated that it would cost ECOWAS around $2.6 billion annually to operate it, according to Reuters. Reuters also reports on a cheaper alternative plan that had been contemplated by ECOWAS ministers of a force of around 1,500 troops that would cost $481 million annually.
The unfortunate reality is that considering the ineffective nature of many of our governing institutions, we may still be quite some time away from these plans coming to fruition. However, it is clear that our current approach to tackling armed insurgencies in our region is not working. If West African leaders can genuinely unite to form a regional force, it would be the best-case scenario for ensuring peace and stability throughout our region.