By ZAKAA LAZARUS
West Africa’s security architecture is being tested like never before. Terrorist groups, armed bandits and transnational criminal networks are moving with ease across borders that were designed for trade and brotherhood, not war.
That is why the call by Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (Rtd), for a unified security alliance between ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) could not have come at a better time.
Speaking in Cotonou during a three-day working visit, Gen. Musa did not mince words: “The threats we face do not recognize borders. We must unite our efforts to dismantle terrorist networks and secure our region.”
He is right. The fragmentation of West Africa’s response has become the terrorists’ greatest advantage. While ECOWAS and AES trade political statements, insurgents exploit the gaps. They move weapons from the Sahel into Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana. They fund operations through piracy and smuggling in the Gulf of Guinea. They recruit in border communities abandoned by the state.
An “inclusive, coordinated front” is no longer a diplomatic phrase. It is a survival strategy.
Since the emergence of AES, cooperation between some Sahelian states and ECOWAS has weakened. Intelligence sharing has slowed. Joint patrols have stopped. Yet the enemy remains the same.
Benin’s Defence Minister, Mr. Gildas Agonkan, acknowledged this reality when he commended Nigeria’s “anchor role” in stabilising the sub-region. Nigeria has paid the highest price in blood and resources fighting Boko Haram, ISWAP and other groups. But no single country can win this war alone.
Unity must go beyond summit communiques. It must mean joint border surveillance, real-time intelligence fusion centres, harmonised rules of engagement, and combined maritime patrols in the Gulf of Guinea. It must also mean prioritizing troop welfare and logistics, as Gen. Musa did when he met Nigerian troops in Togbin.
At the same time, diplomacy must follow the gun. As Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin, Mrs. Mopelola Ibrahim, noted, the twin pillars of trade and border security must run together. Prosperous border communities are harder for terrorists to recruit from.
West Africa now faces a clear choice: remain divided and allow terrorists to dictate the tempo, or close ranks and take back the region.
The ECOWAS-AES divide is political. The threat of terrorism is existential.
If we fail to unite, we risk handing the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea to extremists. If we unite, we restore stability, protect trade, and secure the future of over 400 million West Africans.
The time for posturing is over. The time for joint action is now.
