By Paul Mathin
The value of effective Planning and Partnership for successful Prosecution of the growing menace of insurgences
In the last ten years the ECOWAS region has not been spared from the presence of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram in the Sahel and other jihadist groups across the Sahel.
One thing we have seen across the region with these armed groups, they seem to have no boundaries when it comes to the recruitment of their foot soldiers and their following and also the territory, they decide on wrecking their havocs. For instance, Boko Haram started in the mid 2000 it was at first restricted to a particular state in Nigeria (Borno), however, as weeks, months and years went by, we have seen the expansion of that insurgent and terrorist organization to several other states within Nigeria and outside Nigeria to include Niger, Chad, Cameron.
It’s no secret that some of these other nations bordering Nigeria never thought this was a security threat to their individual countries rather, they may have seen it as a security threat confined within Nigeria.
Today, like you have heard before, “the rest is history,” as we continue to see the spread of this Boko Haram insurgency and insurrection not only across several states in Nigeria but now to include several nation state, to include Cameron, Chad and Niger.
There are so many examples which l could mention within the ECOWAS region to include the jihadist movement in places like Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal (Cassamance Separatist region) and even in some parts of Nigeria outside of the territories that continue to see the bulk of the Boko Haram insurgence.
In successfully combating such threat, we have seen the value of effective planning, partnership and prosecution (This is what l called the three-Ps).
Though the Boko Haram insurgence remain front and center for Nigeria and its people, especially those in the North Eastern part of Nigeria (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states), we continue to see in the last three to four years, significant decrease of the capabilities of the insurgent, Boko Haram, across North Eastern Nigeria and the three other nation states Niger, Cameroon and Chad previously mention.
The modicum of success we are seeing today in the fight against Boko Haram is no fluke. These successes in the theatre of war and the intelligence environment, should come as no surprise, since Nigeria embarked on solid footing in planning and partnering with these other nation states, to combat the menace not only in Nigeria, but across its borders.
When it comes to regional security and integration, solid coordination among nation states should be the order of the day.
In my humble opinion, having observed and accepted this (multi-lateral security coordination), a country like Sierra Leone that shares border with Guinea, which in turn shares border with Mali and Senegal (two countries that have active jihadist and insurgency conflict), should consider ramping up active continuous and effective security coordination activities with the security intelligence apparatus or setups with other neighboring ECOWAS states. I also believe that, Sierra Leone, like several other nations within ECOWAS, may need to warm up to the strategic presence of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and make sure that, the whole ECOWAS region, benefits from the additional training facilities (such as flintlock) being made available by the US military, in pursuance of the fight and campaign against these terrorist and insurgent groups in the region.
I will assume that, one of the many benefits of such regional coordination, is making available, a platform that provides for the creation of an early warning mechanism to help stop these terrorist groups in their tracks before ever firing a weapon to harm the public.
I can go further to state that, ECOWAS secretariat can play a leading role through the formation of a security treaty among its member states, that can make available, a standby military force, trained as a multinational emergency response formation (example a battalion or brigade), drawn from member states of ECOWAS.
In conclusion, the above mentioned, if implemented will not be an isolated instance, for we have seen similar measures either being discussed or fully implemented in other sub-regions across the world, to include the SADC, COMESA, CARICOM countries and The Australian Treaty Series for the South Pacific region.