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Transcript of NIGERIA ECOWAS RELATIONS
M a s t e r s T h e s e s , U s m a n D a n f o d i y o U n i v e r s i t y , S o k o t o
2011
REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA:
A STUDY OF NIGERIA’S LEADERSHIP ROLE
IN ECOWAS
SAIED SULAIMAN TAFIDA
Master, International Affairs and Diplomacy
1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to Allah, the Almighty who gave me the will and the strength to
further my education.
And with deepest gratitude, I wish to thank everyone who has made the completion of
this work possible and the study at large. My special acknowledgment goes to my supervisor, Dr
G.B. Muhammad and other able lecturers of political science department, Usman Danfodiyo
University, Sokoto. I would like to also use this opportunity to thank my family, friends and for
the most part my course mates for their priceless support.
Thank you all.
2
ABSTRACT
Many years has elapsed, since the independent West African states handed their trust to
what Nigeria created and led as a ferry across their existing difficulties. They hoped that the
success of ECOWAS will significantly better their apparent stubborn socio-economic and
political problems of underdevelopment, poverty and external dependency. This however, after
more than 30 years of its invention, remains a toothless bull while the states plunder in their
glitches.
The Nigerian leadership is said to have failed to deliver the community to the promise
land in the target dates. Hence this study seeks to understand what went wrong and what the
possible ways out are.
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE 1
CERTIFICATION 2
DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT 3
ABSTRACT 4
INTRODUCTION 7
i. Emergence of ECOWAS as a form of regional
Integration in West Africa 8
ii. Nigeria‟s leadership role in regional integration of West Africa. 12
iii. The Nigerian internal structure „Leadership‟ 14
iv. Leadership 17
RESEARCH PROBLEM 18
RESEARCH QUESTIONS 19
METHODOLOGY 19
LITERATURE REVIEW 20
i. Nigerian leadership role in ECOWAS and Africa 20
ii. Nigeria‟s foreign policies 22
iii. Internal structures and foreign policy 25
iv. The failure of ECOWAS 30
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 37
REFERENCES 40
4
INTRODUCTION
Over the past three and half decades, West African States have been enmeshed in the
struggle to attain sustainable economic development and self-reliance through regional economic
integration. ECOWAS was established in May 28, 1975, by the sixteen member states of West
Africa (now fifteen, as Mauritania withdrew), as a practical approach in tackling the economic
dilemma of the sub-region that is devastatingly entangled in excruciating poverty,
underdevelopment and foreign dependency (Anadi 2005).
In addition, ECOWAS had strongly recognized the development and expansion of the
regional market as the corner piece of its comprehensive development strategy. As clearly
demonstrated in the preamble of chapter 2 Article 3 of its Revised Treaty, ECOWAS sought to
achieve economic integration through liberalization of trade between its member states, removal
of all impediments to free mobility of factors of production, as well as harmonization of national
economic and fiscal policies of member states.
First, ECOWAS set out to form a free trade area by undertaking a progressive removal of
all custom duties and other charges of similar effect, on imports and exports between member
states, as well as all quota and quantitative restrictions and other administrative impediments on
trade between the member states within the sub-region, as epitomized by Article 41 of its
Revised Treaty
Second, ECOWAS envisaged the gradual roll-over of a customs union that will
eventually metamorphose into a common market, with the eventual elimination of all obstacles
to free mobility of factors of production between them, while at the same time, maintaining
common external tariff structure in their trade with countries outside the union.
5
Finally, in the preamble of chapter 9, Article 54 of ECOWAS Revised Treaty, the
organization sought to cap its efforts by attaining a complete economic union through the
harmonization of agricultural, industrial, transport and communication, energy and
infrastructural development as well as common economic and monetary policies between
member states.
Nigeria a „major‟ power in this region has remained a leading figure in the struggle to
actualize the afore-mentioned dreams. The „giant‟ provided the headquarters of the organization;
provided fund amounting to more than 33% of ECOWAS annual budget; single handedly started
ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), a military community for the settlement of conflict in
the region; and made Africa and the ECOWAS the center piece of her foreign policies (Ichim
2006). Repetitively, different Nigerian governments have accorded special attention to the
difficulties and conditions of her neighbors in West Africa.
These independent states of West Africa had squarely believed in what Nigeria and Togo
are formulating as a ferry across their existing difficulties and hoped that the success of
ECOWAS will significantly ameliorate their seeming intractable socio-economic and even
political problems of underdevelopment, poverty and external dependency. Yet, more than thirty
years after its formation ECOWAS has essentially remained somewhat a “lame duck”, with
hardly any meaningful impact apart from providing employment for a number of civil servants
and the elaborate ceremonies of its summits. (Anadi 2005) Political and socioeconomic problems
still remains the face of the community, poverty: the leash of the states and insecurity, war and
conflicts the bridle of their movements. This is evident in the continued unstable government in
member states.
6
This general scope of the study is to outlines the emerging role of Nigeria, at the core of
the search for sustainable development strategy in West Africa. The rationale of analysis used in
this work can be better understood when ECOWAS and its performance is viewed in relation to
the efforts different Nigerian governments employed to achieve the ECOWAS goals; secondly,
the Internal challenges Nigeria as a country is facing. I focused on several interrelated factors in
order to view the role of Nigeria in regional integration of ECOWAS, firstly by considering the
strength of internal leadership structure in Nigeria and how it affects Nigerian foreign policies
and how indeed this led to impediment in the achievement of ECOWAS goals in West Africa.
The bases for the above analysis are derived from the review of the literatures and other
documents written about the subject under study. Leadership as a major variable in this study
will be operationalized
The emergence of ECOWAS as a form of regional integration in West Africa
Traditionally, West African peoples have earned their living from the land and that is
why agriculture remains the bedrock of all other indigenous economic activity in West Africa.
Other occupations such as trade and craft manufacture were rather undertaken on a part time
basis, while additional types of productive enterprises were often made possible by the financial
surplus from agriculture (Anadi 2005).
However, the nature of economic activities in West Africa was drastically changed with
the arrival of the Europeans on the west coast of Africa between the 17th
and 18th
centuries, and
the subsequent transformation of the hitherto local servitude into a largely „profitable trans-
national commercial enterprise‟ gravely retarded socio-economic development throughout west
Africa. Also, the resultant partitioning and subsequent introduction of European colonial
7
governance in West Africa with its colonial policy of legitimate trade in one or two cash crops to
serve the industrial needs of Europe further worsened the erosion of indigenous industrial skills
and the basis for the development of sustainable interactive economic activities throughout West
Africa.
In consequence therefore, by the time most of the new nation states of West Africa
gained their independence in the 1960‟s, they were left with structurally fragile and highly
disarticulated economies with inherent acute and devastating price distortions in the international
commodity market (Anadi 2005).
Earlier efforts to co-ordinate economic cooperation on a sub-regional level in West
Africa dates back to 1963, with a conference on industrial harmonization in the sub-region in
Lagos, Nigeria and the Niamey conference on economic cooperation in 1966. Similarly, in 1967,
another conference was held in Accra, Ghana where a tentative agreement on the Articles of
Association of a proposed economic community in West Africa was signed.
An interim Council of ministers mandated to prepare a Draft Treaty for the proposed
community recommended that the inaugural meeting of the proposed community be held the
level of heads of states and government. Though the Heads of States and Government actually
met in Monrovia in 1968 and signed the protocol for a regional group, neither the Draft Treaty
nor the Protocol on customs union submitted by the interim council was adopted.
In 1972, the process was revived by the Heads of State of Nigeria and Togo by mandating
their officials to streamline a framework for community cooperation based on the following
guiding principles:
“a) That, the envisaged economic community should cut across linguistic and cultural
differences.
8
b) Should pursue limited realizable objectives.
c) Approach adopted should be flexible and practical.
d) Necessary institutions are to be adopted allowing all countries to become members at
their convenience.” (Anadi 2005:42)
The proposals of a joint Nigeria-Togolese delegation embodied in a Draft Treaty was
reconsidered in yet another ministerial meeting in January 1975, and finally signed on 28th
May,
1975, by the Heads of State and Government Representatives of the fifteen member countries of
West Africa, thus, marking the end of over a decade of unfruitful strenuous effort to
institutionalize a framework for coordinating sustainable development and collective self-
reliance in West Africa. ECOWAS was therefore established in 1975 to coordinate and promote
trade, cooperation and sustainable development throughout West Africa. The signing of the
ECOWAS Treaty of Lagos in May 28, 1975, was indeed a kind of radical response to the plague
of poverty and underdevelopment bedeviling West Africa, and as a result, practically provided
the much desired framework for the realization of rapid and sustainable socio-political and
economic development throughout the sub-region, and has till date the following member states:
Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d‟Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea
Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the Republic of Togo.
The ECOWAS Treaty provided for a gradual establishment of a customs union, common
external tariff and harmonization of economic and financial policies of member states within a
period of 15 years. It also made provision for compensation for losses encountered by member
states in the course of the implementation of the provisions of the treaty. The original treaty was
revised in 1993, to broaden economic integration and increase political participation and
cooperation throughout the sub-region. The revised treaty sought to attain an integrated common
9
market and a single monetary union with an institutionalized Parliament for stronger political
cooperation and participation within the sub-region. (Ichim 2006)
There is no doubt that the architects of ECOWAS were influenced by the overwhelming
assumptions of traditional integration theories, of numerous economic benefits that could accrue
to member states as a result of their participation in regional economic integration program.
One alluring assumption is the fact that integration positively affects the gross national
products of member countries;
as the resultant enlargement of the size of the market increases
efficiency and greater advantages of economies of scale within the integrating area. Thus, as
competition increases, better specialization is ensured as producers concentrate on areas in which
they have the greatest advantage, thus better positioned to exploit large scale economies while at
the same time, restructuring the regional economy to enhance the production base of the region.
Another contention lies in the argument that the enlarged market offered by integration
will sufficiently sustain heavy industries and better ensure the least unit cost of production which
will in-turn stimulate demand and consumption as well as increased investment and economic
growth.
Similarly, as better allocation of resources is attained, prices go down in favor of
consumers in a way that is not detrimental to producers, thus, befitting both the producers and
consumers.
However, the problem to study here is that, with the efforts sets through history to
establish ECOWAS; to many of the member nation‟s dismay, their hoped messiah to improve
their seeming intractable socio-economic and even political problems of underdevelopment,
poverty and external dependency is more on a paper than a reality. Imohe (2007) defined the
10
West African Economic community as a state that is glorified in name rather than execution and
implementation of the proper state policy to aid development.
Nigeria’s leadership role in regional integration of West Africa
Nigeria has since Independence been playing a significant leadership role in the West
African Sub-region and indeed the African continent. Africa has remained the centerpiece of
Nigeria‟s foreign policy since independence in 1960. With a population of about 150 million
people, almost one quarter of the African continent and being endowed with immense physical
and human resources, Nigeria is destined to play leadership roles in the affairs of the continent.
This is exactly what the country has been doing for decades, notwithstanding the financial,
political, social and diplomatic challenges (Okunno 2010).
Successive Nigerian governments have consistently accorded special attention to the
plight and conditions of her brothers and sisters in Africa, which has made the basic principles of
Nigeria‟s foreign policy “Afro-centric” and that of its brother‟s keeper, which is enshrined in all
the dominant cultures of Nigeria.
In Nigeria‟s Afro-centric foreign policy, the West African Sub-region remains the first
line of implementation. Given the vast size, natural, economic, human resources and large
market drive, Nigeria perceives itself as having a historic mission to exercise hegemonic
influence in the West African Sub-region and indeed, the black world. Her economic strength
and the high level of human resources at her disposal have allowed her a measure of autonomy in
the pursuit of Africa‟s genuine interests in global politics. This can be seen in her role in the
Organization for African Unity, which later metamorphose into the African Union (AU), Chad
11
Basin Commission, Commonwealth of Nations and the sub region under study, Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Nigeria has been supportive of ECOWAS and AU at large in the area of conflict
resolution. The country‟s participation in peace keeping efforts is a manifestation of its concern
and regard for the need to give priority and clear expression to the value of the bond which forms
part of history of all Africans, particularly those who inhabit the West Coast of the continent.
Nigeria had the largest contingent in the ECOMOG peace keeping force, committing huge
human and financial resources to the activities of the force.
Nigeria continuously plays crucial mediatory roles in crisis situations among African
countries and the rest of the international community. Her contributions towards peace and
stability in Africa are unparalleled. Specifically, she has participated in peace keeping operations
in the Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Cote d‟ Ivoire,
Somalia and Darfur in Sudan, to mention but a few.
Among the immediate challenges facing Nigeria as a leading country in the ECOWAS
community, is resolving the many conflicts raging on the communities and the continent at large.
Nigeria and indeed the entire West African region have devoted considerable human, material,
political and diplomatic resources to the resolution of the crises in the sub-region, starting far
back with Liberia and then to Chad, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), Angola and more recently the Darfur crisis, to cite a few.
Within the West African Sub region, successive administrations in Nigeria have ensured
the promotion of cooperation with other African nations in all fields of human endeavor through
economic exchanges and regional integration of members. This has been achieved through
deployment of more Technical Aide Corps (TAC) volunteers whose services have been in high
12
demand by other countries to assist in the areas of their manpower needs. In specific terms, there
have been considerable integration through sharing Nigeria‟s know-how and expertise with other
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries; Promotion of integrated infrastructure in the
West African sub-region; Establishment of the ECOWAS free trade area; Promotion of sub
regional (ECOWAS) Economic integration; Establishment of the Ministry of Cooperation and
Integration (which was later subsumed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Establishment of the
Second West African Monetary Zone; Complete eradication of all rigid border formalities;
Adoption of a common ECOWAS Passport; Establishment of ECOWAS Trade Liberalization
Scheme (TLS); Establishment of the ECOWAS Court of Justice; and Promotion of sub regional
peace and security initiatives(Okunno 2010).
This leadership role is no doubt a big task for a country like Nigeria which has her share
of internal challenges; however it is a task the different administrations of the country shouldered
and are willing to take to promise land.
ii. The Nigerian internal structure, ‘leadership’
Nigeria has a federal form of government and is divided into 36 states and a federal
capital territory. The country‟s official name is the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Lagos, along the
coast, until 1991 was the country‟s capital city and it is still the economic and cultural center, but
Abuja, a city in the interior planned and built during the 1970s and 1980s, is the present capital.
The government moved from Lagos to Abuja in 1991 in the hope of creating a national capital
where none of the country‟s ethnic groups would be dominant. (Stock 2009)
Nigeria long had an agricultural economy but now depends almost entirely on the
production of petroleum, which lies in large reserves below the Niger Delta. While oil wealth has
13
financed major investments in the country‟s infrastructure, Nigeria remains among the world‟s
poorest countries in terms of per capita income. Oil revenues led the government to ignore
agriculture, and Nigeria now import farm products to feed its people.
The area that is now Nigeria was home to ethnically based kingdoms and tribal
communities before it became a European colony. In spite of European contact that began in the
16th century, these kingdoms and communities maintained their autonomy until the 19th century.
The colonial era began in earnest in the late 19th century, when Britain consolidated its rule over
Nigeria. In 1914 the British merged their northern and southern protectorates into a single state
called the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Nigeria became independent of British rule in
1960. After independence Nigeria experienced frequent coups and long periods of autocratic
military rule between 1966 and 1999, when a democratic civilian government was established
(Stock 2009).
Nigeria is by far the most populated of Africa‟s countries, with more than one-seventh of
the continent‟s people. The people belong to many different ethnic groups. These groups give the
country a rich culture, but they also pose major challenges to nation building. Ethnic strife has
plagued Nigeria since it gained independence in 1960. An America Author: Karl Maier, ones
wrote that:
“Nigeria was suffering from sort of national psychosis, political and military
leaders were corrupt. Crime were seen by many as legitimate avenue or
advancement and people in search of solutions were turning inwards to ethnic
prejudice and religious bigotry…We, the outside world, ignore Nigeria at our
peril…from any point of view Nigeria truly matters. However deep it sunk into a
14
mire of corruption repression and economic dilapidation, Nigeria remains one of
the world‟s strategic nations” (Maier 2000: xviii)
The importance of Nigeria as a strategic nation in African and west African development cannot
be over emphasized. However the country‟s misadministration and poor leadership remains an
issue.
Scholars and writers alike linked the rise of Nigerian poor administrative crises to the
military intervention in the countries polity. Dare (2007: 187) explain this in his words narrating
the Nigeria ordeal? “Forty six years after gaining political independence, Nigeria remains
unfinished business. Not because the materials and tools needed to complete the Nigeria project
are not available, but because Nigeria lacks visionary leaders and disciplined citizenry…the
blame rest upon self-imposed leaders at all levels of government”. This as well remains the
picture of the countries administration internationally.
In his words, Chinua Achebe (1983), a famous Nigerian writer, notes that:
“the Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or in ability of leaders to rise to the
responsibility and challenge of personal example which has the hall mark of true
leadership… Nigeria has many thoughtful men and women of concise, a large
number of talented people. Why is it that these patriots make so little impact on
the life of our nation? Why is it that our corruptions, gross inequities, our noisy
vulgarity, our selflessness, our ineptitude seem so much stronger than the good
influences at work in our society? Why do the good among us seem so helpless
while the worst are full of vile energy?” (Pp: 1 - 3)
Alas, this was written almost 30 years ago, but till date things continue to fall apart. Despite
these short comings, that threatens the existence of Nigeria as a nation, Nigeria is the major
15
country in the running, hosting and financing the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) (Achebe 1983).
Such weaken international structures according to Akindele (1986) affect foreign policies
of a country negatively. He asserts that, the strength of a state outside its borders depends on the
strength of her internal structures. Nigeria will not be expected to lead ECOWAS to the promise
land unless it arrests her internal leadership problems. Tony Blair, a former British Prime
minister once said that “I have done lots of work with the previous presidents of Nigeria while I
was in the office and all of Africa and we know that without Nigeria fulfilling its potentials and
exacting its leadership, it will be greatly difficult for the whole of African development”
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the process of social influence in which one person can
enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Leadership is
ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary
happen. Encarta dictionary defines leadership as the Ability to guide, direct or influence people.
Not minding long and short definitions, Leadership is often linked to organizing a group of
people to achieve a common goal. The leader may or may not have any formal authority.
The search for the characteristics or traits of leaders has been ongoing for centuries.
History's greatest philosophical writings from Plato's Republic to Plutarch's Lives have explored
the question of What qualities distinguish an individual as a leader? Underlying this search was
the early recognition of the importance of leadership and the assumption that leadership is rooted
in the characteristics that certain individuals possess.
16
For decades, this trait-based perspective dominated empirical and theoretical work in
leadership Using early research techniques, researchers conducted over a hundred studies
proposing a number of characteristics that distinguished leaders from non-leaders: intelligence,
dominance, adaptability, persistence, integrity, socioeconomic status, and self-confidence just to
name a few. At the most basic level, a leader is someone who leads others. But what makes
someone a leader? What is it about being a leader that some people understand and use to their
advantage? What can you do to be a leader?
A leader according the Plato‟s republic should have a vision. Leaders see a problem that
needs to be fixed or a goal that needs to be achieved. It may be something that no one else sees
or simply something that no one else wants to tackle. Whatever it is, it is the focus of the leaders
attention and they attack it with a single-minded determination.
Whether the goal is to achieve economic integration, develop a policy that will solve a
certain problem, or start a diplomacy that can achieve the leader's dream, the leader always has a
clear target in mind. This is a big picture sort of thing, not the process improvement that reduces
errors by 2% but the new diplomacy process that completely eliminates the step that caused the
errors. It is the new policy that makes people say "why didn't I think of that". That's the kind of
vision a leader has.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
The problem of the study is to determine the leadership role Nigeria is playing in regional
integration of West Africa. That is, to address this problem by exploring the experience of West
Africa and the continent at large. The approach generally assumes that, due to the devastating
socio-economic and political circumstances in West Africa, it will be politically suicidal for
17
policy makers of Nigeria to pursue the long term benefits of regional economic cooperation in
preference to the short term national needs of their states that demand urgent attention.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The questions raised in this work attempt to tackle the several aspects of the challenges
confronting Nigeria as a leading figure in ECOWAS integration program, with the goal of
providing a clearer picture of the numerous overlapping factors that precipitated the failure of
ECOWAS in general. The questions are both descriptive and analytical and strive for causal
explanations: Why has regional integration process been very difficult in West Africa: What
went wrong and why? Has Nigeria failed in her leadership? And or, what are the best retracing
steps?
METHODOLOGY OF STUDY
This work will adopt a general method of Non participatory survey of historical records
of events that relates to the subject of study. It will review some of the selected literatures and
study the write ups that were done on the contending issues. A logical deduction will be deduce
from the literature review and analyzed in the summary and conclusion section of essay.
The essay will look and analyze the leadership role of Nigeria in the West African
states integration and the African continent at large. It will focus the interdependences of the
leadership within Nigeria and its consequences in the country‟s figure as a leader to other
nations. We will look at the effects of administrative changes and forms of leadership in Nigeria
and how it affects Nigeria‟s leadership role in regional integration and ECOWAS.
18
The paper will adopt qualitative method of data analysis by identifying the major
arising concerns and group them into themes and sub themes. The themes will then be grouped
and mapped, that is, concept mapping. The findings will then be analyzed in the summary and
conclusion section of this write-up.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Nigeria’s leadership role in ECOWAS and Africa
Since independence, Nigerian foreign policy has been characterized by a focus on
Africa and by attachment to several fundamental principles: African unity and independence;
peaceful settlement of disputes; nonalignment and non-intentional interference in the internal
affairs of other nations; and regional economic cooperation and development. In pursuing the
goal of regional economic cooperation and development, Nigeria helped create the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which seeks to harmonize trade and investment
practices for its 15 West African member countries and ultimately to achieve a full customs
union. Over the past decades, Nigeria has played a pivotal role in the support of peace in Africa.
It has provided the bulk of troops for the UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone
(UNAMSIL), the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and many of the troops to the African Union
Mission in Sudan (AMIS). Nigeria is anticipated to do likewise in Somalia.
Otorofani (2010), in his article “Nigeria: Time for Leadership in Constitutionalism and
Good Governance in Africa” insist that, Nigeria assumed a leadership role in Africa after
independence because she was destined to be, courtesy of her size and natural resources: as no
other nation had the wherewithal to play that role or otherwise compete with her as Africa‟s pre-
eminent leading nation south of the Sahara. And the fact that the Republic of South Africa,
19
which would have been the natural leader was still a pariah nation, helped in no small way in
propelling Nigeria to the forefront of African leadership. Incidentally, apartheid South Africa
was to provide the litmus test for Nigeria‟s leadership role on the continent. Barely had the ink
dried on Nigeria Independence Declaration at Lancaster House, England, in 1960, than the racist
enclave began to feel the heat of the anti-apartheid struggle spearheaded by Nigeria as the leader
of the frontline states. This was intensified with continental ferocity until the atrocious regime of
Pete Botha crumbled under the unrelenting bombardment of the apartheid fortress by the
superior forces of history.
For Otorofani, Though situated thousands of miles away, Nigeria considered herself a
frontline state just like those bordering South Africa, placed by their geographic locations at the
receiving end of the regime‟s scorched earth policies designed to punish and/or intimidate the
frontline states into submission. As a frontline state, therefore, South Africa extended her tactics
of intimidation to Nigeria in several ways most notably when it secured or attempted to secure a
military base in Equatorial Guinea from which it planned to target Nigeria militarily and
destabilize her. It was in recognition of that leadership role that Nigerian leaders worked their
tails off to secure independence or majority rule for such states as Namibia, Rhodesia
(Zimbabwe), and of course, Angola, as well as her numerous internationally recognized peace-
making and peace-keeping roles in troubled spots in Africa and beyond. The numerous
international awards and letters of commendation received from the UN and other international
organization bear eloquent testimonies to Nigeria‟s leadership role in West Africa and Africa at
large, and by necessary implication, the world in general.
He further elaborated on the progressive evolution of Nigeria‟s leadership roles from
her early pre-occupation with decolonization to peace making and enforcement and all the way
20
to the development of a pan African mechanism for good governance through the peer review
mechanism as a prerequisite for the socio-economic transformation of the continent. For
Otorofani, the peer review mechanism itself was designed to put African governments on a
sound, democratic footing and enables member states, under the auspices of the AU, to directly
intervene in the domestic affairs of other member states whose actions fall short of the ideals of
the organization. As the chief proponent and promoter of the peer review mechanism therefore,
Nigeria had had to condemn and, indeed, intervene in certain African countries when the actions
of their leaders fell short of the democratic ideals and principles enshrined in both the AU and
ECOWAS Charters subscribed to respectively by member states. For example, the condemnation
of the coup de tat and its bloody aftermath in the Republic of Guinea, and expulsion of the Niger
Republic from ECOWAS under Nigeria‟s leadership over the undemocratic power grab by its
leader, President Mamadou Tandja, (just ousted in a military coup), are the clearest examples yet
of the operation and implementation of the peer review mechanism spearheaded as always by
Nigeria. And recently, according to him Nigeria‟s President, Dr. Jonathan Goodluck, at the
ECOWAS Heads of States Summit in Abuja, talked tough about undemocratic actions of certain
elements in some West African states warning that there would be no comfort zone in the region
for such elements. Nigeria‟s leadership in Africa is therefore real, universally acknowledged, and
consequently unquestionable in general terms.
Otorofani‟s article is not the only one in such a field of recognizing Nigeria‟s effort to her
neighbors. The article was supported by Shoup‟s (2007) arguments in her article titled “Regional
giant, Nigeria looms over west Africa.
21
Nigeria’s foreign policies
Shoup (2007) went on to define some Nigerian foreign policies that kept her leadership in
ECOWAS. For Shoup, Nigeria's vast oil wealth, a population that includes one in every five
Africans and a willingness to wade into regional turmoil has made the country a power in West
Africa, and a political force across the continent. Focusing its foreign policy on African affairs,
Nigeria has deployed troops on peacekeeping missions to calm conflicts, sent diplomats to
negotiate political disputes and committed resources to organizations that promote development
and economic cooperation between African countries.
Shoup maintained that, Nigeria is the region's largest economy representing 55 percent of
West Africa's gross domestic product, the most populous nation on the continent at an estimated
150 million people and the continent's largest oil producer. She quoted Princeton Lyman, a
former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations saying:
"They are the big guy on the block in every way," This heavyweight status puts Nigeria in a
natural leadership role, one that both its democratically elected and military leaders have
embraced since gaining independence from Britain in 1960.
For her, Nigeria contributed significant financial backing, troops and resources that made
ECOMOG‟s creation possible. From 1990 to 1997, Nigeria troops made up 12,000 of the
organization's white helmets. As the war spilled over the border to Sierra Leone, ECOMOG sent
troops in 1998 to push back attacking rebels until United Nations forces arrived. She continued
that, Liberia's war ended in 2003 and the country's president, Charles Taylor, entered exile in
Nigeria as one of the conditions. In 2006, Obasanjo transferred Taylor to a war crimes tribunal
in Sierra Leone to stand trial for his role in the civil war.
22
She continued that, Nigeria foreign policy didn‟t just stop at the region, for her Nigerian
forces are present in all of the United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa: Cote D'Ivoire,
Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Sahara. In total,
Nigeria commits 2,462 soldiers to U.N. missions across the globe, according to the United
Nations.
Peacekeeping remains the cornerstone of Nigeria's regional influence but the relatively
wealthy nation exerts an economic influence on the region as well. Nigeria is the only country to
set up a trust fund in the African Development Bank for poorer countries to borrow money. After
drafting economic reforms within her borders, Nigerian leaders helped policy makers in other
countries with their own reforms.
The Nigerian government also organized and finances a program to send doctors,
lawyers, teachers and other professionals to work in other countries. Obasanjo played an
instrumental role in creating the New Partnership for Africa's Development by encouraging other
heads of state to create a continent-wide strategy for development. He also has promoted
Nigeria's role on the international stage, not only as one of Africa's leading countries, but as a
one of the most populous countries in the world.
Both Otorofani (2010) and Shoup (2007) were not wrong. Nigeria‟s steps in the
leadership of ECOWAS and AU was, and still is obvious, but their argument didn‟t answer the
questions, why is ECOWAS still backward in the realization of her dreams? Their need for
answers were clear when Shoup (2007) noted that “Nigeria has years of experience securing
peace in other countries with the help of outside training and resources, its military may be better
equipped to handle operations in other countries than to suppress conflicts within its own
borders” (p: 3). The Nigerian military has failed to curb an uprising in the Niger Delta region that
23
threatens to shut down the region's lucrative oil. And Otorofani (2010) also added that, a leader
must lead by concrete examples in appropriate cases and not by mere precepts and properly held
accountable to the same standards he had set for himself and others whenever he falls short.
Hence the question, where lies the problems of ECOWAS?
Internal Structures and Foreign Policy
Akindale (1986) in article to Nigerian Journal of International Affairs, titled “External
structure and Nigeria‟s foreign policy: Perspectives on the future” defined strength of foreign
policies. For him a country must be well-built internally before it can portray a better foreign
policy. He proposed three (3) basic propositions to demonstrate the centrality to the importance
of state behavior.
i. The evaluation by the leaders of other countries of the polity and strength of the
domestic structures and capability is as important as the leadership perception of
that country.
ii. The foreign policy of a country can never be stronger than the domestic
environment, particularly the capability profile which support and sustain the
foreign policy.
iii. That the domestic structure of foreign policy is never in any known society
governed by state equilibrium, rather it is governed by dynamic of change and
whether is in the direction of growth or decay.
For him stable political, economic and social structures are central to the conduct and
administration of any country‟s external relations.
24
Akindele‟s arguments are clear explanation to what may be expected in the foreign policy
of any county that has the character of Nigeria. Unfortunately the reverse is the case as noted by
Karl Maier (2000) and Chinua Achebe (1983), they both narrated in their books, what they see as
the weakness in the Nigerian internal leadership structure.
Maier started the preface of his book by explaining how chaotic and busy, scary and
insecure Nigeria is. He characterized it in his experience with a cab driver on the streets of
Nigeria. He uses Port Harcourt, a town in southern Nigeria as his example.
Maier continued his first chapter by narrating incidence that shows misadministration,
corruption and leadership (antagonism) confusion. He started with the May 29, 1999 Obasanjo
inauguration ceremony in the specially built Eagle Square stadium in Abuja, built at a reported
cost of $30m. There, he and other representatives of the international press joined over 20 Heads
of State, numerous foreign dignitaries, parliamentarians and traditional monarchs in witnessing
the installation of Nigeria's first civilian President in 16 years. “ the ceremony itself provides an
opportunity to sketch a brief history of what in fact was colonial construct and of the rapid rise
and fall of what was to be independent Africa” (Maier 2000:28)
His observations describes the simultaneously chaotic, festive and ironic occasion.
Amongst the Nigerian dignitaries on hand were Shagari and the soldiers that overthrew him -
Babangida and Buhari - as well as Abubakar who was to do what only one other military
strongman had ever done before: transfer power to an elected leader. That the only other military
leader to have handed over power was in fact Obasanjo himself 20 years earlier - in an
inauguration ceremony parade commanded by Abubakar - was the supreme irony.
Travelling the length and breadth of this huge nation, Karl Maier does not simply focus
on the power brokers, politicians and intellectual elite in his portrait of Nigeria, nor is the book
25
simply a historical treatise or political sceneries. Rather, the author has sought to listen and
report the attitudes of many ordinary Nigerians. Civil war veterans (including the Biafran leader
Ojukwu), area boys, angry youths (including Ganiyu Adams, gang leader of odudowa Congress)
from the slums of the cities, human rights activists, Muslim militants and Christian
fundamentalist
Intertwined in these narratives is a biting commentary on the cynical relationship between
international finance and Nigeria's corrupt rulers. “they lend Nigeria money, somebody here
steals the same amount of money and gives it back to them, and then they live this poor
Nigerians repaying what they never owed. The role of western powers has been totally
disgraceful” (Maier 2000: xxii)
Frequently the author relates his own experiences in Nigeria where he lived for two years
- like the Port Harcourt 'go slow' traffic jam and the quarrel between his driver and a traffic
policeman, or his first arrival at Lagos' airport, and the inevitable shakedown at the hands of
customs officers.
Karl Maier wonders, in his book on the future as Nigeria reaches what is surely a crucial
point. He pointed how the north boils, the south simmers and the east poaches: with each
region‟s leaders being corrupt as there counterpart in the other regions; the civilian as corrupt as
their equivalents in the Military and the poor just as corrupt as the rich.
The author quoted a Nigerian civil activist, Bilkisu Yusuf who explained to him the
Nigeria Dilema “The whole thing starts from the people themselves and their expectation… A
minister‟s family will expect him to do things that are impossible on a minister‟s salary; they like
spurious demands such as expecting them to buy a new car or take them to trips. Where does the
money come from...” (Maier 2000: 302) Bilkisu went further to tell the author as he quotes,
26
“now we have Nigerians looting money from their own people…if we are going to hold people
to account and really make meaningful change in Nigeria, we must first begin with ourselves”
(Maier 2000: 303)
The author showed his concerned about the strategic impotence of Nigeria in the West
African region and the world at large. For him the administrative turmoil‟s the country had
through self-impose leaders is enough to devastate it. In his words “Designed by aliens occupiers
(colonial masters) abused by army rule for three quarters of its brief life span, the Nigerian state
is like bruised elephant staggering toward abyss with the ground crumbling under its feet. Should
it fall, the impact will shake the rest of West Africa.” (Maier 2000: xx)
The author, during his short stay in the country, tried to provide an overview of the
country in a concise but elaborate manner. However, his short stay in the country is not enough
to provide him with overall understanding of Nigeria from the people‟s perspective, why are
things the way they are. More so, Maier uses historical documentation for most of his analysis,
which the authenticity may be faulty. The author attested that his pessimism about the country‟s
leadership is not what he can understand. This he made known in his account of interview with
Ibrahim Babangida, one of the former Military head of states of Nigeria. Babangida told him that
Nigeria will not fall because “God is a Nigerian” (Maier 2000: 74)
However, upon the short comings and shallow understanding of the complexities, of the
previous author, a lot of knowledge can be mapped from his write-up and how this experience
will help in understanding how such a country ransacked by its people will provide a better
leadership in an international integration, especially ECOWAS
27
The Maier‟s arguments were nevertheless supported by a well-known Nigerian writer,
Chinua Achebe who further reiterates on the weakness of the Nigerian political structures. The
Author titled his book “The trouble with Nigeria”
For him, the trouble (supersites) supersede its borders, but affect the neighboring
countries that depends on it, The Author continues that “when two Nigerians meet, their
conversation will sooner or later slide into a litany of our national deficiencies. The trouble with
Nigeria has become the subject of our small talk in much the same way…Nigeria can change
today if she discovers leaders who have the will, the ability and the vision” (Achebe 1983:3)
Achebe insisted that, Nigerian leadership if adjusted will provide all that the country requires
including a better international integration.
He exemplified better governance in the country that had a reaching effect on the
populace of the country and a better international integration that enlightened the African
continents to stand against the dominant colonial masters. The example the author used is the ill-
fated Murtala administration “When Murtala took power in 1975 civil servant are found in office
by 7:30am, Even the known „go slow‟ of Lagos vanished over night” (Achebe 1983: 1)
He insisted that corruption is the major canker worm in the administration system of the
country. “The countless billions that generous providence poured into our national coffers in the
last ten years (1972 -1982) would have been enough to launch this nation into the middle-rank of
developed nations and transformed the lives of our poor and needy. But what have we done with
it? Stolen and salted away by people in power and their accomplices” (Achebe 1983: 12)
Achebe Faulted the Administration of the country quoting the egoist ambition of some of
the prominent leaders that were considered as better drivers of the country‟s administration under
a civilian rule. The author quoted Obafemi Awolowo, saying “I was going to make myself
28
formidable intellectually, morally invulnerable, to make all the money that is possible for a man
with brains and brawn to make in Nigeria” and in the same page, Achebe quoted the first
president of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikwe saying “Henceforth, I shall utilize my earned income to
secure my enjoyment of high standard of living and also to give a hand to the needy” (quoted in
Achebe 1983:11)
The author in his attempt to portray the picture of Nigerian leadership said: “The trouble
with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership, there is nothing basically wrong with
the Nigeria character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian climate or water or air or
anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the
responsibility, the challenge of personal example which are hallmarks of true leadership” Achebe
(1983: 1)
Chinua Achebe‟s literature is inspiring and has a road map to the problems in Nigeria;
However, The author himself is an architect of some of the problems in the country. He was one
of the five most senior officials “Biafra republic” that section that wanted to break away from
Nigeria that led to a civil war that cost more than one million civilian deaths. Achebe‟s Picture is
still hung in “Ojukwu bunker”, the presidential Villa at the inferred headquarters of Biafra, in
Umuahia, Abia state, Nigeria. The place is now a war museum.
The apparent failure of Nigeria as a strong leader may answer the question on what is
happening to ECOWAS.
29
The Failure of ECOWAS
Anadi (2005) in his work, itemize the failures of ECOWAS despite the over burdening
efforts by Nigeria to coordinate the regional body. Anadi asserts that, ECOWAS was established
to promote cooperation and sustainable development among the member states, in all fields of
economic activity for the purpose of raising the standard of living of the region‟s diverse
peoples. In order to achieve these objectives, the organization embarked on a program of
economic integration to attain accelerated and sustained economic growth within the region
through the complete elimination of all barriers to free movement of goods, capital and persons.
This is undertaken through a structured regional program of trade liberalization and liberalization
of migration barriers. Its main purpose is to ensure stability and economic growth throughout the
region.
For him, In addition, the potential economic benefits from liberalization in-terms of cost
reductions on economic agents (i.e. producers, consumers and government) are based on the
assumption that all tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade within the region are fully removed.
However, the welfare benefits that should accrue from liberalization are drastically reduced since
the realization of the ECOWAS internal market program remains largely incomplete.
The regional trade liberalization program was hinged on the complete removal of all
barriers to trade within the region, establishment of a customs union, establishment of a common
external tariff and the elimination of customs duties and taxes of similar effect. This was planned
over a transitional period of 15 years from 1975.
Its successful completion was envisaged to open up the door to greater economic gains
for the member states of the community in-terms of increased expansion in trade due to free
mobility of factors of production, increased capital flows and direct investment due to
30
attractiveness of the large integrated market, and balanced industrialization due to greater
specialization and economies of scale.
So far, ECOWAS internal market program remains largely incomplete due to the low
commitment and lack of effective compliance on the part of member states in the implementation
of regional decisions. Though the regional policy of trade liberalization offers a catalogue of
rational conjoint utilities and benefits to be derived when completed, which otherwise member
states cannot achieve alone, it‟s obvious that those utilities and benefits lack rationality in the
minds of member states actor‟s preferences as shown in their poor implementation.
For him, the first stage of ECOWAS trade liberalization scheme entails the establishment
of a free trade area, the benefits of which are regionally distributed and long term in nature. Free
trade area involves elimination of all customs duties and taxes of equivalent effect upon which
most of the member states depend heavily for raising government revenue for the provision of
social services to their people.
This process will gradually result into a customs union with the
enthronement of a common tariff structure and other economic policies towards third countries
with the ultimate aim of an economic union through the harmonization of economic, agricultural,
industrial and monetary policies.
Anadi (2005) pointed that in West Africa, economic problems are the most consistent
catalyst for social change- this in-turn basically shapes the preferences of member states to
pursue low risk short-term policies with immediate national gains which are largely incongruent
with long term benefits that would accrue from liberalization of regional trade. Under this
condition, such a policy can only survive or elicit maximum commitment on the part of member
states if there is adequate compensation procedure for loss of revenue to member states
particularly the poorer states.
31
Therefore, a major hindrance in the implementation of Articles 12, 13 & 14 of the
ECOWAS Revised Treaty which concerns removal of customs duties is that most of the member
states derive the bulk of their revenue from indirect taxation. Indirect taxation accounts for a
relatively high percentage of all budgetary income throughout West Africa – most of these taxes
are actually import and export duties. Thus, it is assumed that as member states economies
undergo structural changes, the rates of indirect taxes to total revenue will tend to fall, but in
reality this did not happen.
He maintained that, the existing tax structure poses the problem of how best to provide
adequate and appropriate compensation for those member states drastically affected by the
elimination or lowering of import duties through liberalization. Literally, liberalization is
expected to provide substantial benefits to member states in the long term from the envisaged
elimination of tariff barriers and other trade restrictions. But a close look at West Africa indicate
most of the member states are mainly producers of primary products, which compete with and
not complement each other. This indeed makes it quite difficult to achieve the principal aims of
Articles 12, 13 and 14 in relation to the attainment of a customs union.
In addition to the problems facing full liberalization, progress towards ECOWAS
liberalization and market integration is further retarded by the relative small size of the regional
market and lack of significant expansion in intra-community trade. The community‟s half-
hearted liberalization did not generate the much desired diversification in the national economies
of member states as the non-complementarities in the structure of their economies persist.
Further, reduced potential for increased intra-ECOWAS trade and the wide disparities in
resource endowments and income levels between the member states have significantly sustained
lopsided and marginal growth in both export and domestic production within the region; thus,
32
leaving the regional market relatively dominated by only a few member states [i.e. Nigeria, Cote
d‟Ivoire and Ghana], which are relatively rich in natural resources, accounting for more than
70% of the region‟s exports to the world.
Consequently, according to Anandi (2005) the narrow range of overlapping production
that characterize West African economies prior to liberalization remained unchanged and
severely limits member states to merely import-substitution types of production in consumer
goods. Further, due to the low degree of market expansion attained by the community,
compounded by the average size of existing firms within ECOWAS which are relatively below
the cost-minimizing optimum, neither the potential growth effects of economies of scale and
greater specialization accruing from liberalization nor the expected fiercer competition under the
internal market conditions were realized.
Also, since the internal market program of ECOWAS was so far unable to enhance
relatively fiercer competition, the potential for the usual behavioral changes accompanying
liberalization in terms of reorganization of production and management to reduce administrative
inefficiency, improved specialization, and better exploitation of locational advantages in
production facilities as well as intensified effort at scientific innovation were substantially
diminished. As a result, the existing level of the implementation of the internal market program
was not sufficient to effectively undermine national lobbies, so that inefficiency and inflexibility
remain significantly sustained.
The failure of existing liberalization measures to enhance production and expansion in
the community‟s internal market is shown in the patterns of their volume of trade within the
region, Africa and the world, with the percentage of intra-community trade remaining at a
33
relatively very low ebb, though a sizeable volume of intra-community trade remains unrecorded
and carried out through the informal sector.
Anadi kept explaining that, in practical terms, the community‟s market integration
procedures and instruments are not sufficiently equipped to generate a credible customs union in
West Africa. So far ECOWAS regional instruments rather than stimulate national economic
development, impose huge adjustment costs on member states, and therefore constitute real
obstacles to national economic policies of member states. This off-course, grossly inhibit the
ability of the private sector within the national economies to fully exploit the large opportunities
of economies of scale within the region.
Further, the community‟s preferential tariffs are usually calculated based on high custom
rates and are paid by the exporting member states. These procedures for compensation inflict
substantial revenue losses on the exporting member countries which at the meantime member
states find absolutely very difficult to offset. Also, even if efforts to finance compensation from
the community levy [the protocol which was approved in the 1996 Summit provides for a 0.5%
tax on the value of imports from third countries], is taken as an option, it faces the same
obstacles as this equally demands member states to fully comply with their financial obligations
to the community which at present is neither here nor there.
Added to the problem of inadequate compensation are the complications arising from the
regional mechanism for approval procedures for industrial products which are substantially
“incoherent, complicated and time-consuming”.
The community‟s requirements for a certificate
of origin and an export declaration form for goods originating from the community particularly
on unprocessed goods, compound the problem and negatively impact on the expansion of intra-
community trade and output.
34
For Anadi such failures are also obvious in other sectors of the Communities goals, He
asserts that the regional efforts at attaining macro-economic convergence of member states‟
economies through the framework of ECOWAS have so far yielded little or no dividends. It is
rightly assumed that the success of the ECOWAS internal market program would guarantee a
balanced distribution of wealth and significantly narrow the widening disparities between
member states, by facilitating the intra-ECOWAS movement of goods and factors of production.
But this is more a dream than a reality.
Anadi (2005) concluded that it is quite probable that member states of ECOWAS either
did not understand the full implications of economic integration or that they underestimated the
enormous sacrifices in terms of painful adjustments required to achieve meaningful regional
economic integration. These necessary adjustments comprise elimination of tariff barriers to
trade in terms of import and export duties upon which the economies of most member states
basically depend. It also demands adjustments in industrial policy in terms of harmonization of
investment legislations, agricultural policy involving near total.
The greatest dilemma of member states lies in the necessity to divulge some decision-
making powers to the regional body for meaningful economic integration to be achieved.
Unfortunately, the member states remain stunned and strongly resistant to the idea of losing
some aspects of their sovereignty to the regional body. Thus, the result is that ECOWAS has so
far remained an organization (a kind of a lame duck) with a large array of protocols and
decisions without the requisite political power to enforce them.
Further, there are quite profound contradictions between ECOWAS regional economic
integration policies and the national policies of member states. Whereas the benefits accruing
from numerous regional integration policies are long-term in nature, involving low/high risk
35
adjustments, and are regionally distributed, the harsh economic and political conditions of these
states demand urgent remedies and their policy preferences gravitate around policies that offer
short-term payoffs, with relatively low risk or total risk aversion for the maximization of
immediate national welfare. Therefore, this basic contradiction accounts for the lack luster
implementation of the community‟s protocols and decisions and consequently the failure of those
regional economic programs within the frame work of ECOWAS. The burden of which seriously
weakened their moral support and commitment to the implementation of those program and
subsequently their failure.
Anadi (2005) clearly outlined the major failures that hunt ECOWAS today, the causes of
the failures and there realities. But what he didn‟t point out is the failure of these members state
to cater for their internal problems as noted earlier by Akindele (1986). This will be looked at the
summary and conclusion session.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.
The role of Nigeria in the West African region integration cannot be over emphasized,
from the literatures above it is obvious that regional integration in West Africa or otherwise
known as ECOWAS cannot be said to be a total failure, even though most of the establishing
principles are yet to see the lights of the day or the few existing ones are not functioning as
earlier imagined. More policies are formulated every year on strategies that can be followed to
achieve the targeted fruits. Among the establishing principles, Promotion of integrated
infrastructure in the West African sub-region; Establishment of the ECOWAS free trade area;
Promotion of sub regional (ECOWAS) Economic integration; Establishment of the Ministry of
Cooperation and Integration (which was later subsumed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs);
36
Establishment of the Second West African Monetary Zone; Complete eradication of all rigid
border formalities and Establishment of current currency for the region, are among the principles
that are always on paper and strategies are drafted every year on how to reach them. (Anadi
2005)
However, Adoption of a common ECOWAS Passport; Establishment of the ECOWAS
Court of Justice; and Promotion of sub regional peace and security initiatives, are among the few
that are seen on ground. For example some of the West African states have already adopted the
ECOWAS passport.
Also, inferring from the above literature review, it is obvious that what Plato defines as
the major characters a state should have are lacking in Nigeria, a foremost economy in the region
which assumes a leadership role. Plato identifies three major elements of a well administered
state. According to him a well administered state should have experts as their heads of states;
there should be clear definition between contractors and leaders of the state and he stressed the
supremacy of state in all affairs.
What went wrong according to the preceding authors is that Nigeria has political bigot as
leaders who lead with less conviction and sincerity (Achebe 1983) The leaders are corrupt and
they share contracts among themselves (Maier 2000) and state affairs is run as a personal office
(Achebe 1983) These attributes relegates Nigeria‟s domestic leadership to the minimum, if not
disregarded in the international community. And this put the country, less of what Akindale
(1986) defined as the strength of foreign policies. According to Akindele (1986), foreign policy
of a country can never be stronger than the domestic environment. That is no matter how
Nigeria will try to influence activities of the foreign neighboring states, because of her internal
crises, the foreign activities may not be respected. Thus, the best retracing steps are, it is
37
politically suicidal for policy makers of Nigeria to pursue the long term benefits of regional
economic cooperation in preference to the short term national needs of their states that demand
urgent attention
Thus, the leadership role of Nigeria in the 21st century should focus on the need for
Nigeria to overcome its domestic problems without necessarily over stretching itself to attain
African unity. (Okunno 2010) The resources needed to back up her policies towards the sub
region and beyond should not be in short supply as this may bring with it complex problems at
the political and social levels. Therefore, she must continuously commit herself towards ensuring
peace and stability in the continent, most importantly in the West African Sub region.
With a successful political transition and democratization, and turning 50 on October 1st
2010, a new era has opened up for Nigeria towards improving its internal leadership and foreign
relations with other countries of the developing world. It is expected that she will not only
assume a very prominent position on African affairs, but will also serve as the fulcrum, together
with South Africa, upon which the economic and political integration of Africa will be built, in
the near future. It is also expected that, amongst other things, the new thrust of Nigeria‟s foreign
policy should be more inward looking by fixing the right internal structures that will enable the
country project power externally from a position of strength and not weakness, arising from the
resolve of all outstanding issues within the polity. On the basis of this, the country would do well
to utilize and improve on its position as a non-permanent member of the Security Council of the
United Nations. This would be a catalyst in her aspiration and desire to be a strong member in
the committee of Nations.
38
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