Assessment of the Socio Economic and Political Implications of ECOWAS Free Movement
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Covenant University Ota
Abstract
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This paper examines the extent the ECOWAS free movement
protocol of persons, goods and services contributes to the economic and
political growth of Nigeria which is an active member state. The protocol on
free movement is often hijacked by criminals from some member states,
neighbors and within to perpetrate trans-border crimes such as smuggling of
arms, drugs and other forms of crimes. Political development is the heart beat
of other development in any country. This is because power rest in political
sphere and it is through power that other development such as economic
development rest. The system of government in place, the ideals of the
government and the stability of the government determine the profitable,
societal plus cultural improvement of the nation. The role plays by civil
societies, mass media and some section of activists toward the return to
democracy in Nigeria are more appreciated and noticeable than that of
ECOWAS. This indicates that there is always romance between ECOWAS
and West African dictators especially in Nigeria. This unholy relationship
might not be far from the fact that most leaders under ECOWAS are once
dictators who benefited from the silence of the community or the leaders are
mute considering the benefit their individual states get from dictators in
Nigeria. The study primarily adopted the desk research design which
involves the use of secondary source of data. The analyses of the data were
carried out using content analysis. The study revealed that the performance of
ECOWAS were undermined by various factors such as lack of political will fear and mutual distrust, cultural and colonial differences among others.
These factors inhibited the full actualization of the protocol among member
states. The study concluded that Nigerian government should evaluate her
activities in ECOWAS and should ensure that member states contribute their
quota to the community as enshrine in the treaty.
Keywords
JC Political theory