Historicising Nigerian Involvement in Conflict Resolution in West Africa through the ECOMOG Initiative

Abstract

The search for peace and security has remained a major preoccupation of states. Yet, the attainment of a peaceful and secure international system has remained an elusive ideal. The major reason is that the character of the international system and the behaviour of its inhabitants cannot be easily regulated. While ECOWAS has as its main goal the economic development of West Africa through cooperation and integration of the states, this objective can only be realised in an environment that is peaceful, stable, and secure. The realisation of such a symbiotic relationship between political stability and economic development led to the birth of the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which was birthed as an offspring of contingency and had been relatively successful in restoring peace to the beleaguered states of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea Bissau in the West African Subregion. This study investigates the involvement of Nigeria in spearheading the establishment and operation of ECOMOG in West Africa. Though ECOMOG was a subregional creation, there is no denying the fact that Nigeria was very instrumental to the success the body recorded in its operations bearing in mind the huge volume of material and human resources it galvanised into the ECOMOG operations. Significantly, the paper contends that if not for the active involvement of Nigeria in the ECOMOG operations, the body would have failed. The Historical method of research based on the use of primary and documentary evidence is used for the study. Nigeria thus intervened in these warring countries under the Umbrella of ECOMOG to bring about peace and stability and to curb the interference of the superpowers in the affairs of the sub-region. The paper therefore lends credence to the necessity of the hegemonic factor in conflict resolution as long as it does not lead to domination by the bigger nations.