ELUU IFEANYI: HISTORY OF ECOWAS AND NIGERIA IMPACT ON IT SINCE INCEPTION

INTRODUCTION

The Economic Community of West African States, also known as ECOWAS is a regional economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Before the creation of ECOWAS, the collective territory known as West Africa, was made up of an aggregation of states that had emerged from different colonial experiences and administrations which largely defined the boundaries of the 15 states domiciled in the area. Even though Member States of the community now make use of three official languages (English, French and Portuguese), there are well over a thousand existing local languages including cross-border native tongues such as Ewe, Fulfulde, Hausa, Mandingo, Wolof, Yoruba, Ga, etc. that constitute its over 300 million people tucked in a vast land of about 5.1 million square kilometers. Prior to colonialism, the area played host to many proud empires and kingdoms that spanned centuries, some of which included Ghana, Mali Songhai, Wolof, Oyo, Benin and Kanem Bornu.

The region’s cultural, linguistic and ecological diversity presents both opportunities and challenges for the integration process. The longing to combine forces politically and economically has always been recognized as a step forward in the desire to engender co-prosperity in the area. In this regard, the first effort at integration dates back to 1945 with the creation of CFA franc that brought the francophone countries of the region into a single currency union. Then in 1964, Liberian president William Tubman proposed an economic union for West Africa leading to an agreement which was signed in 1965 by the four states of Cote d’Ivore, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

However, it was not until 1972 that a proposal for a union of West African States emerged. That year, the Nigerian head of state Gen Yakubu Gowon and his Togolese counterpart Gnassingbe Eyadema toured the region in support of the integration Idea. Thanks to the drafts that emanated from their efforts. These formed the basis for the emergence of the treaty of Lagos in 1975 which birthed ECOWAS. The treaty of Lagos was originally touted as an economic initiative, but emerging political events led to its revision and therewith the expansion of scope and powers in 1993. At all times, ECOWAS chief executive officers presiding initially as Executive Secretaries and now as Presidents, defer to the supreme organ of the community-the Authority of the Heads of State of Government for guidance. This body is usually headed by a Chairman.

Collectively, these countries comprise an area of 5,114,162 km² (1,974,589 sq. mi), and in 2015 had an estimated population of over 349 million. The union was established on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, with its stated mission to promote economic integration across the region. A revised version of the treaty was agreed and signed on 24 July 1993 in Cotonou. Considered one of the pillar regional blocs of the continent-wide African Economic Community (AEC), the state’s goal of ECOWAS is to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for its member states by creating a single large trading bloc by building a full economic and trading union. ECOWAS also serves as a peacekeeping force in the region, with member states occasionally sending joint military forces to intervene in the bloc's member countries at times of political instability and unrest. In recent years these included interventions in Ivory Coast in 2003, Liberia in 2003, Guinea-Bissau in 2012, Mali in 2013, and Gambia in 2017.

ECOWAS includes two sub-regional blocs:

The West African Economic and Monetary Union (also known by its French-language acronym UEMOA) is an organization of eight, mainly French-speaking, states within the ECOWAS which share a customs union and currency union. Established in 1994 and intended to counterbalance the dominance of English-speaking economies in the bloc (such as Nigeria and Ghana), members of UEMOA are mostly former territories of French West Africa. The currency they all use is the CFA franc, which is pegged to the euro.
The West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), established in 2000, comprises six mainly English-speaking countries within ECOWAS which plan to work towards adopting their own common currency, the eco.

ECOWAS operates in three co-official languages—French, English, and Portuguese, and consists of two institutions to implement policies: the ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), formerly known as the Fund for Cooperation until it was renamed in 2001. A few members of the organization have come and gone over the years. In 1976 Cape Verde joined ECOWAS, and in December 2000 Mauritania withdrew, having announced its intention to do so in December 1999. In 2011, ECOWAS adopted its development blueprint for the next decade, Vision 2020, and, to accompany it, a Policy on Science and Technology (ECOPOST).

Aims and Objectives of ECOWAS

1. The establishment of a common fund for development, cooperation and compensation.

2. The harmonization of the monetary policies of member states for effective functioning of the community.

3. The elimination of customs charges and other similar levies on the importation and exportation of goods and services among member states.

4. Harmonization of agricultural policies, and promotion of common projects especially in marketing, research and agro-industrial ventures among member states.

5. The abolition of all obstacles to the free movement of persons, services and capital between member states.

Member States

As of February 2017, ECOWAS has 15-member states, eight of these are French-speaking, five are English-speaking and two Portuguese-speaking. All current members joined the community as founding members in May 1975, except Cape Verde which joined in 1977. The only former member of ECOWAS is Arabic-speaking Mauritania, which was also one of the founding members in 1975 and decided to withdraw in December 2000. Morocco officially requested to join ECOWAS in February 2017. The application was endorsed at the summit of heads of state in June 2017. Statistics for population listed below are taken from World Bank estimates for 2015, published in December 2016.

Country	Population (thousands)	Official language
Benin	10,880	French
Burkina Faso	18,106	French
Cape Verde	521	Portuguese
Gambia	1,991	English
Ghana	27,410	English
Guinea	12,609	French
Guinea-Bissau	1,844	Portuguese

Ivory Coast	22,702	French
Liberia	4,503	English
Mali	17,600	French
Niger	19,899	French
Nigeria	182,202	English
Senegal	15,129	French
Sierra Leone	6,453	English
Togo	7,305	French
ECOWAS Total	349,154	—

Chairpersons

Chairperson	Country	In office
Yakubu Gowon	Nigeria	28 May 1975 – 29 July 1975
Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Togo	29 July 1975 – 13 September 1977
Olusegun Obasanjo	Nigeria	13 September 1977 – 30 September 1979
Léopold Sédar Senghor	Senegal	30 September 1979 – 31 December 1980
Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Togo	1980–1981
Siaka Stevens	Sierra Leone	1981–1982
Mathieu Kérékou	Benin	1982–1983
Ahmed Sékou Touré	Guinea	1983–1984
Lansana Conté	Guinea	1984–1985
Muhammadu Buhari	Nigeria	1985 – 27 August 1985
Ibrahim Babangida	Nigeria	27 August 1985 – 1989
Dawda Jawara	Gambia	1989–1990
Blaise Compaoré	Burkina Faso	1990–1991
Dawda Jawara	Gambia	1991–1992
Abdou Diouf	Senegal	1992–1993
Nicéphore Soglo	Benin	1993–1994
Jerry Rawlings	Ghana	1994 – 27 July 1996
Sani Abacha	Nigeria	27 July 1996 – 8 June 1998
Abdulsalami Abubakar	Nigeria	9 June 1998 – 1999
Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Togo	1999 – 1999
Alpha Oumar Konaré	Mali	1999 – 21 December 2001
Abdoulaye Wade	Senegal	21 December 2001 – 31 January 2003
John Kufuor	Ghana	31 January 2003 – 19 January 2005
Mamadou Tandja	Niger	19 January 2005 – 19 January 2007
Blaise Compaoré	Burkina Faso	19 January 2007 – 19 December 2008
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua	Nigeria	19 December 2008 – 18 February 2010
Goodluck Jonathan	Nigeria	18 February 2010 – 17 February 2012
Alassane Ouattara	Ivory Coast	17 February 2012 – 17 February 2013
John Dramani Mahama	Ghana	17 February 2013 – 19 May 2015
Macky Sall	Senegal	19 May 2015 – 4 June 2016
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf	Liberia	4 June 2016 – 4 June 2017
Faure Gnassingbé	Togo	4 June 2017 – present

Regional security co-operation: Nigeria and other ECOWAS members agreed a Protocol on Mutual Defense Assistance, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 29 May 1981. Among other organs such as a Defense Committee and Council, it provided for the establishment of an Allied Armed Force of the Community (AAFC) as needed. Anglophone ECOWAS members established ECOMOG in 1990 to intervene in the civil war in Liberia (1989–96). Within Africa, ECOMOG represented the first credible attempt at a regional security initiative since the Organization of African Union (OAU) tried to established an 'Inter-African Force' to intervene in Chad in 1981.The first Force Commander was Ghanaian Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo, but he was succeeded by an unbroken line of Nigerian officers. Major General Joshua Dogonyaro took over from Quainoo after Quainoo had left Monrovia for consultations with senior ECOWAS officials soon after the death of Samuel Doe at the hands of Prince Johnson's Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia on 9 September 1990.

Expanded ECOWAS Commission

For the third time since its inception in 1975, ECOWAS is undergoing institutional reforms. The first was when it revised its treaty on 24 July 1993; the second was in 2007 when the Secretariat was transformed into a Commission. As of July 2013, ECOWAS now has six new departments (Human Resources Management; Education, Science and Culture; Energy and Mines; Telecommunications and IT; Industry and Private Sector Promotion. Finance and Administration to Sierra Leone has been decoupled, to give the incoming Ghana Commissioner the new portfolio of Administration and Conferences)

Community Court of Justice: The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice was created by a protocol signed in 1991 and was later included in Article 6 of the Revised Treaty of the Community in 1993 However, the Court did not officially begin operations until the 1991 protocol came into effect on 5 November 1996. The jurisdiction of the court is outlined in Article 9 and Articles 76 of the Revised Treaty and allows rulings on disputes between states over interpretations of the Revised Treaty. It also provides the ECOWAS Council with advisory opinions on legal issues (Article 10). Like its companion courts the European Court of Human Rights and East African Court of Justice, it has jurisdiction to rule on fundamental human rights breaches.

Sporting and cultural exchange: ECOWAS nations organize a broad array of cultural and sports event under the auspices of the body, including the CEDEAO Cup in football, the 2012 ECOWAS Games and the Miss CEDEAO beauty pageant.

Impact of Nigeria on ECOWAS

1. ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS): The establishment of a common market is one of the steps taken by Nigeria and other Member States to achieve the aims of the ECOWAS Treaty for establishment of market integration or common market in the ECOWAS. The ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) involves abolition among Member States, of customs duties levied on imports and exports, and the abolition of non-tariff barriers in order to establish a free trade area at the sub-regional (Community) level.

2. Providing the Legal - Frame-work: Apart from sponsoring the formation of the ECOWAS, Nigeria did a number of things to promote the West African economic cooperation and sustainability. Nigeria used the instrument of law to reverse adverse economic situation. One of the first things Nigeria did was to call for and sponsor a review of the 1975 ECOWAS Treaty. The 1975 ECOWAS Treaty (hereinafter referred to as Old Treaty) was the legal instrument that established the ECOWAS. The review of the Old Treaty was one sure strategic means that Nigeria could use to “elicit support measures” from other Member States. Nigeria sponsored ECOWAS meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government in Abuja on 6 July 1991 wherein a Committee of Eminent Persons was set upto submit proposals for the review of the Treaty.

3. Economic Conditions that Needed Sustainable Development: With a total area of 923,768 square kilometers, Nigeria had a population of 70 million, while the ECOWAS total population stood at 125 million. Nigeria’s natural endowments included petroleum, iron ore, tin, gold, manganese, coal, limestone, zinc, lead, columbite, natural gas and hydropower. Since in the 1970s, Nigeria’s industries have expanded to include car and truck plant assemblies, oil refineries, iron, steel and aluminum industries as well as chemical and pharmaceutical industries, among others.

4. Promoting Sustainable Development through Market Integration Scheme: The ECOWAS legal frame work also provides for the establishment and promotion of ECOWAS Market Integration Scheme (EMIS). As noted earlier, Nigeria’s interest in championing the establishment of a pan West African body (ECOWAS) was to be sustained through a functional economic co-operation that would not only strengthen national economies but that would also see Nigeria secure a ready market for her manufactures and that of the entire West African sub-region.

In pursuing the goal of regional economic cooperation and development, Nigeria helped create ECOWAS, which seeks to harmonize trade and investment practices for its 16 West African member countries and ultimately to achieve a full customs union. Nigeria has played a central role in the ECOWAS efforts to end the civil war in Liberia and contributed the bulk of the ECOWAS peacekeeping forces sent there in 1990.

Conclusion

West African countries came together to form the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with the aim of making the region a strong economic powerhouse in Africa. Nigeria helped create ECOWAS, which seeks to harmonize trade and investment practices for its 16 West African member countries and ultimately to achieve a full customs union. Nigeria also has provided the bulk of troops for ECOMOG forces in Sierra Leone. Nigeria has enjoyed generally good relations with its immediate neighbors.

REFERENCES

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Charmely, P. (1977). “A note on the Concept of Integration on Paths and on the advantages of Integration” In Mihaly Samai and Katalin Garam (Eds), Economic Integration; Concept, Theories and Problems. Budapest. Academai Kiado.

Chilleh, F.F. (2013). “ECOWAS Standby Force a tool for sub-regional stability. Nigerian ArmyInformation Brief March 2013.

"The 5 previous West African military interventions". Yahoo News. AFP. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017