Title: From the ECOWAS of the Heads of State to the ECOWAS of the peoples: what lesson can we draw from it?
Authors: Mohamed Lamine KABA
Volume: 7
Issue: 8
Pages: 66-75
Publication Date: 2023/08/28
Abstract:
The resonance of the need to move from the ECOWAS of Heads of State to the ECOWAS of peoples in West Africa has its origins in the permanence of conflicts and the multiplication of sources of tension. Combined with constitutional putsches and military coups in West Africa, the permanence of conflicts and the multiplication of sources of tension are causing the dysfunction of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a result, the latter's loss of influence in its own area of jurisdiction. In the context of this situation of progressive loss of confidence of the peoples, ECOWAS is suffering the brunt of humiliation and disrespect in the exercise of its sovereign mission which consists in implementing the policy of the African Union (AU) in terms of integration at the level of the sub-region: "from the community of Heads of State to the community of peoples". To overcome these problems of disapproval of the supranational institutional order, a structural and institutional reform that endorses the promotion of good governance seems to be the best solution. Indeed, the challenges in terms of peace and security in West Africa mainly reflect problems of governance, such as the management of elections. This is why the problems related to terrorism, the management of diversity and development relates to governance. The inadequacy of public policies for the socio-professional integration of young people, which leads to rampant unemployment among the young, raises the question of the rural exodus which, without any real political will for the employability of young people (girls and boys), in turn poses the stinging problem of irregular and clandestine migration in the sub-region ( Znaniecki , 1998). This article, thinking about the Pan-African dimension, exposes in depth, the real reasons for the disapproval of ECOWAS by the West African peoples and proposes ways out of this crisis, both structural and institutional.