By Innocent Odoh The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) of Africa have been urged to initiate institutional reforms in the structure of the regional bodies in order to tackle the myriad of economic, developmental and security challenges confronting member countries.
This was the focus of a two-day “Policy Dialogue of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Peace Building in Africa: Lessons Learned from Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and ECOWAS,” which commenced at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Abuja on Thursday.
Chairman of the occasion, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, in his opening remarks, noted that the RECs have been the pillars on which African economic development can be built, adding that they should collaborate to address the economic, developmental and security challenges confronting the continent.
Director General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Professor Oshita Oshita in his opening address said that the session provides a veritable platform for peace building especially when contextualized within the realities of the conflicts trends and dynamics as well as the peace building efforts in Africa.
“Africa is richly endowed with both human and natural resources. Paradoxically, the continent has equally faced and is still facing multifaceted challenges that are posing threats t both state and human security,” he said, urging stakeholders to brainstorm on strategies to address these challenges.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who gave the keynote address, in his paper entitled ‘Two and a Half Decades of ECOWAS’ Peace Interventions in West Africa: An Insider-Outsider Perspective,’ noted that while ECOWAS has made some strides in the field of peace and security, specifically in serving as a good example of how Regional Economic Communities (RECs) can actively engage in peace and security matters.
He however, lamented that ECOWAS has remained largely stagnant on peace and security for at least a decade and a half, largely because it has remained complacent, comfortable that it remains the foremost regional economic community in Africa today, in comparison to the other RECs.
He said that ECOWAS, as presently structured, in terms of staffing and the commitment of its constituent Member States, is unable to fulfill its core mandate and urged institutional reforms in ECOWAS adding the leadership positions in ECOWAS “must no longer be handed down as reward for loyalty and service to Heads of State, or on the opposite end, be regarded by Heads of State as an opportunity to dispense with troublesome politicians by posting the latter to ECOWAS for a breather!”
He added that while ECOWAS is still grappling with prevailing peace and security challenges, new ones have emerged. “The ability to effectively cope with both the old and the new requires a multi-pronged, multi-actor and multi-sectoral approach,” he said.
The event was organized by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution in collaboration with Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden and Africa Peace building Network.
