Review Article
ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement and Trans-border Security in West Africa
Opanike A1* and Aduloju AA21African Leadership Centre, King’s College, University of London, London, UK
2Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria
- *Corresponding Author:
- Opanike A
African Leadership Centre
King’s College, University of London
London, UK
Tel: +44 20 7836 5454
E-mail: abimbola.opanike@gmail.com
Received Date: May 04, 2015; Accepted Date: September 24, 2015; Published Date: September 30, 2015
Citation: Opanike A, Aduloju AA (2015) ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement and Trans-border Security in West Africa. J Civil Legal Sci 4:154. doi:10.4172/2169-0170.1000154
Copyright: © 2015 Opanike A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Abstract
Previous studies on regionalism in West Africa affirm that one of the reasons for integration in the region is the selfish interests of Nigeria. However, the benefits of regional cooperation amongst West African states cannot be sacrificed on the altar of the political interests of Nigeria as previously claimed. Undoubtedly, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has embarked on different integration schemes to foster cooperation and development among member states; the most important among all is the Free Movement Protocol. Although existing literature has investigated the benefits and effectiveness of the protocol in West African Sub-region. Studies on the security implications of the Free Movement Protocol for the region are scanty. This study interrogates the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol vis-à-vis trans-border security in West Africa.
