Appraising the Pertinence of ECOWAS to Nigeria in an epoch of declining National Economy
By Stephen Isayinka (MICMC, AUSIP)
Nigeria undeniably plays a crucial role in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Abuja, Nigeria, is home to the ECOWAS headquarters and parliament. Considering that Nigeria is home to more than half of ECOWAS’s population, the country’s GDP is larger than that of all the other countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
When you crunch the numbers, you’ll see that Nigeria is paying for a disproportionate share of the ECOWAS budget. Nigeria has contributed more to ECOWAS in the form of community levy over the past 16 years than any other member state, at a total of over $1.177 billion. Nigerian lawmaker Hon. Awajim Abiante made this point in the ECOWAS Parliament, citing Nigeria’s contributions to the organization’s power infrastructure, healthcare initiatives, and peacekeeping operations across the region. These contributions have benefited countries like the Gambia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, and Liberia.
The fact that Nigeria and its people have not benefited greatly from ECOWAS membership despite the country’s substantial financial contributions is regrettable. At a recent plenary session of the Nigerian House of Representatives, one lawmaker argued that it was time to assess ECOWAS’s impact on the country’s socioeconomic development over the past decade.
ECOWAS’s utility for Nigeria is called into question by the country’s economic dominance relative to the other member states and the size of its associated financial obligations. For a market roughly half the size of Nigeria’s, many regional integration schemes have been established across Africa. On top of that, Nigeria’s domestic industrial production is still insufficient to meet the voluminous needs of its domestic market, let alone to supply for substantial exports to neighboring ECOWAS states.
Because of this, some people think Nigeria can do without ECOWAS for the time being. Many people in Nigeria believe that all they get out of ECOWAS are headaches. Things have gotten even worse at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), where other member states appear to have reached a consensus to steal nearly all of Nigeria’s job openings at the commission. This has prompted threats from Nigerian parliamentarians at ECOWAS that their country will withdraw its membership from the regional economic bloc.
Lawmakers argue that Nigeria spends too much money on the organization and not enough on its own security threats. For all that Nigeria has done and is doing for ECOWAS, critics say the country is not reaping any benefits. This follows an unfair recruitment process at the ECOWAS parliament that primarily benefits other member states at the expense of Nigeria. Members of the legislature recently voted to halt the recruitment process during the 2022 First Ordinary Session of Parliament. This followed complaints from Nigerian lawmakers that the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja had been biased and unfair in its hiring practices.
The Hon. Awajim Abiante has introduced a motion to halt promotions and hiring in the ECOWAS Parliament. Sen. Biodun Olujimi, a Nigerian lawmaker in parliament, seconded the motion, which was supported by Hon. Yousoufa Bida and unanimously approved by the house.
Ahmed Wase, the first Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and the Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, recently told his country’s citizens that their country needs to reevaluate its membership in the regional organization. According to him, if you are currently participating in a system but are not satisfied with the returns on your investments, it is in your best interest to leave the union. Why should we keep investing in areas that do not help our country when we are experiencing an infrastructure deficit and seeing security challenges? According to him, the entire ECOWAS region is entitled to fair treatment, not just Nigeria. Exactly that is what legislators are pleading for. “We will not tolerate a small group of countries trying to run ECOWAS like a secret society.”
Musa Nuhu, Nigeria’s permanent representative to ECOWAS, had also written to Sidie Tunis, the speaker of the ECOWAS parliament, about the scandal of nepotistic hiring that had rocked the organization. Titled “Formal Complaint about Unfair Treatment and Confirmation of Staff at the ECOWAS Parliament,” Nuhu’s letter was dated July 20, 2022.
For positions P-5 and above, the ECOWAS Staff Regulations state that they must be filled by the Management Succession Committee, which is comprised of all Heads of Institutions and chaired by the President of the Commission. The Parliament and human resources can recruit for these lower levels with approval from the Council of Ministers.
Once again, the bureaucracy of Parliament reports to the Bureau of Parliament. It’s unclear whether the AFC/Council of Ministers was consulted before filling these positions, or if the recruitment exercise even began without the Bureau of Parliament’s prior approval.
Another problem is that the powers that be have abandoned the practice of internally advertising open positions with ECOWAS institutions before searching externally for candidates when none of the internal applicants meet the minimum standards.
Recruitment processes are never fair because, long before they are carried out, you hear talk of preferred candidates and instructions to the “consultant” in charge of narrowing down the pool of applicants to a manageable long list. Some legislators have come out publicly to express their displeasure with the clannish recruitment practices prevalent in ECOWAS, claiming to have received complaints from constituents directly impacted by the issue.
Notwithstanding, Solomin Ossai, a human rights activist in Nigeria, has stated that “allegations should not be wished away by mere gas lighting.” He claimed that over the course of the past sixteen years, Nigeria had paid over $1,177 billion to ECOWAS in the form of Community Levy contributions. Indeed, that is a very significant development. I think it’s important to look into whether or not the donors who put up such a big sum of money are feeling excluded. To him, devaluation occurs when a person’s existence and reasonable concerns are ignored or disregarded.
Last but not least, close observers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have observed a subtle but revolutionary move on the part of Nigeria, the economic and political powerhouse of West Africa, as part of an effort to counter a rather disturbing public perception that the regional organization is losing focus and relevance. Analysts have also claimed that the current state of ECOWAS in Nigeria is one that lacks visionary leadership and political will, and that it has instead devolved into a club of leaders protecting their own enlightened self-interests at the expense of the citizens of the region. This is because the organization has been slow to react to recent economic downturns, wars, and the growing trend of legitimizing current governments. This includes a tacit approval of the third-term presidency and the indiscriminate change of national constitutions for tenure elongation. The examples of the recent elections in Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea, as well as the potential threats in Togo, Benin, The Gambia, and Senegal, have been used to illustrate this point. Sadly, in the present day, the ECOWAS leadership, which is heavily influenced by Paris, is dozing off at the wheel and lacking the guts to speak truth to power. The lack of leadership has affected the administration of the ECOWAS Commission and the Specialized Agencies among other ECOWAS bodies. Since Nigeria is responsible for more than 60% of the ECOWAS annual budget through payment of the Community Levy, ECOWAS needs to be aware of the current challenges posed by the economic downturn and the disunity among her member states,
notably Nigeria.
