ECOWAS trans-border conference
Strategic options for resolving the ongoing series of conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in different parts of the country will serve as the theme of a forthcoming trans-border conference by Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS], billed for Abuja this week. The forum which will be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari. Coming at […]
Strategic options for resolving the ongoing series of conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in different parts of the country will serve as the theme of a forthcoming trans-border conference by Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS], billed for Abuja this week. The forum which will be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari. Coming at the instance of the Ministry of Interior, the conference is part of the efforts by some African countries to stem the incessant herdsmen and farmers crises, which has claimed many casualties across the country and is a sore political issue that threatens Nigeria’s unity.
According to Interior Minister Lt Gen Abdulraman Dambazau, “We initiated the conference … under the ECOWAS protocol on free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services, zeroing particularly on the protocol of trans-humans which was signed in 1978 but is yet to be implemented”. Dambazau said the whole idea is to look at the issue of movement across borders just as the conference will have in attendance Cameroon and non-ECOWAS member states such as Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Morocco and Mauritania. This wide field of participation which comprises both members and non-members of the ECOWAS sub-region in the conference is commendable, as the issues at stake fall outside the statutory jurisdiction of any particular country. Hence they need a regional approach to be handled effectively.
The critical factor of interest as far as the conference is concerned is in the area of breaches in the protocol over the past 40 years. For instance, as Dambazau observed, the protocol provided that any movement of trans-human nature should be received at the reception centre of the host country, where the respective international trans-human certificates of any visitor(s) are to be verified for guidance of officials of the host country and the designated visitors. Moreover, where cattle and animals are involved in the movement, such should come along with their international health certificates to facilitate screening and other official follow-up actions. Such scrutiny was intended to check animal health status and address the issue of cattle theft and rustling. The Interior Minister also pointed out that the issue of arms movement across borders is a no-go area, as it was never a part of the protocol. It should therefore not be surprising that the security situation in the sub-region is in a precarious state right now. It is virtually a state of every man for himself which borders on anomy.
Against the backdrop of the present state of insecurity in Nigeria and even the West African sub region, the conference could not have come at a better time, just as it is hoped that it will adequately address itself to the many critical issues on the table. These are issues that have become problematic today as they were left unattended to for decades. For it is just unjustifiable that a protocol that was signed in 1978, with a time line for implementation was left in abeyance for 40 years until the respective ECOWAS countries are now faced with a riotous security situation.
Needless to state that the conference is attracting great expectations and demands as much seriousness as can be mustered by the participating countries. The conference is also urged to address not just the paperwork of the compromised protocol but pay more attention to the true faces of the crisis in the real world. The trans-border crisis in the ECOWAS sub region has degenerated to the level of open smuggling of arms across borders, sporadic instances of armed insurgency and even insurrections which predispose all the governments there to open threats. In practical terms, no person in the region is safe from the daily growing scourge of armed robbery, kidnapping, rapes, murders and other heinous crimes committed with the use of fire arms and threat of violence. The active search for a viable solution should start at this conference.