The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has honoured former commanders of the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) for their roles in restoring peace and stability in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau during years of devastating conflicts.
The regional bloc also honoured two Nigerian journalists from guardian newspapers who lost their lives while covering the Liberian civil war, alongside other journalists who documented the conflicts and the efforts to restore peace in the sub-region.
The award ceremony was held in Abuja on Thursday during the unveiling of a new publication titled Fighting Bushfires: ECOWAS and Peacemaking in West Africa — The Experience and Learning Curves.
The book, authored by Prof. Amadu Sesay, documents the experiences of ECOWAS and ECOMOG in responding to conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, while examining the lessons arising from the regional peacekeeping interventions.
Liberia was embroiled in civil war between 1990 and 1997, while Sierra Leone experienced intense conflict from 1997 to 2000. Guinea-Bissau also suffered a civil war in 1999.
More than two decades after peace was restored in the affected countries, ECOWAS used the occasion to recognise individuals who contributed to the peace efforts and those who paid the ultimate price while documenting the conflicts.
Among those honoured were former ECOMOG commanders, including Lt. Gen. Arnold Quainoo, Maj. Gen. Tunji Olurin, Maj. Gen. Joshua N. Dogonyaro, Maj. Gen. Rufus M. Kupolati, Maj. Gen. J. Ishaya Bakut, Maj. Gen. John Shagaya, Maj. Gen. John Mark Inienger, Maj. Gen. Victor Samuel Leonard Malu, Maj. Gen. Timothy M. Shelpidi, Maj. Gen. Felix Agho Mujakperuo, Brig. Gen. Lamin Mangasouba, Gen. Cheick Oumar Diarra, Gen. (Rtd.) Seth Obeng and Brig. Gen. Maxwell Khobe.
Two Nigerian journalists, Kreed Imodibie of Vanguard Newspaper and Tayo Awotusin of Champion Newspaper, were also honoured posthumously.
Veteran freelance journalist Lindsay Barrett and Ben Asante of Ghana were equally recognised with the symbolic Peace of the Rose Award.
Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, recalled the sacrifices made by Nigerian soldiers during the Liberian conflict, disclosing that he lost 10 of his coursemates from the Nigerian Defence Academy to the war.
Musa, who graduated from the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1991, said many young Nigerian officers volunteered to join the peacekeeping operation in Liberia despite the dangers involved.
He recalled the story of one of his coursemates from the former Cross River State, who returned to the barracks after completing his training only to discover that many of his seniors had already been deployed to Liberia.
According to Musa, the officer insisted on joining his colleagues despite being advised to remain behind because he was a young officer. He was subsequently killed a year later.
“These are the sacrifices that have been made, and that will continue to be made. And I want us to really understand that a lot of people are putting in their lives for us to survive, for us to live,” he said.
The minister said the best way to honour those who made such sacrifices was for Africans to remain united and prevent the continent from falling into further instability.
“And so what we owe them is to make sure that we unite, and not allow Africa to fall. Other than that, they will not achieve what they died for,” he added.
Musa also described ECOWAS as an important symbol of regional unity, noting that the organisation’s peacekeeping interventions demonstrated that African institutions could develop their own responses to complex security challenges.
He, however, challenged narratives that credit foreign powers with restoring peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone, insisting that ECOMOG played the critical role in bringing the conflicts under control.
The minister said it was important for Africans to document their own history rather than allow external actors to define the narrative of the continent’s conflicts and peacebuilding efforts.
“If you go to the internet, you see their story that they were the ones that liberated Sierra Leone and Liberia. And so when I watched that video, I asked: ‘Where did you write it?’ You don’t have an analytical reference,” he said.
Musa commended ECOWAS for documenting its experiences, stressing that the publication would provide institutional memory and preserve important lessons for future generations.
“So this is where it is very important that we have something and we must write the story of our region, otherwise others will write it,” he said.
According to him, the publication goes beyond documenting history, as it provides an opportunity for the region to assess its past interventions, identify what worked and what did not, and improve its response to future crises.
“Nobody ever imagined ECOWAS was going to succeed. Nobody. But even without the experience and everything, we went in, fought through, and we were able to come out successfully,” Musa said.
He noted that the experiences documented in the book were particularly valuable to ECOWAS as the regional organisation marks its 50th anniversary.
“For an organization that has carried the major responsibility for peace and security in West Africa, this institutional memory is extremely valuable,” he said.
Musa further explained that Nigeria’s consistent involvement in ECOWAS peace and security initiatives was driven by the understanding that the security of the country was closely linked to the stability of its neighbours.
He said Nigeria had continued to provide troops, resources and political support to regional efforts because insecurity in one country could quickly spread across borders through displacement, disruption of trade, organised crime and other forms of instability.
“We have done so because we recognize that instability does not respect borders,” he said, adding that the security challenges in the Sahel demonstrated the interconnected nature of insecurity across West Africa.
The minister also stressed that military intervention alone could not resolve the region’s security challenges, calling for a combination of kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
“The kinetic is just about 30 per cent of the solution, 70 per cent rests with non-kinetic,” he said.
He cited the experience of The Gambia as an example of what could be achieved through regional diplomacy, collective resolve and commitment to constitutional order.
Musa also urged ECOWAS to draw lessons from its experience in Mali, saying the organisation must be willing to honestly examine its responses to crises and identify areas where it fell short.
“This is not about assigning blame. It is about building a stronger and more effective community,” he said.
As ECOWAS looks ahead after five decades of regional cooperation, the minister said peace and security must remain central to the vision of the organisation’s founding fathers.
He urged the bloc to strengthen its capacity to prevent conflicts before they escalate, respond effectively when crises emerge and support countries in rebuilding peace and constitutional stability.
Musa also warned against allowing asymmetric warfare to take root, describing it as particularly difficult to combat because the threat often emerges from within a country.
“In the past, conventional warfare was between states. Asymmetric warfare is within. The enemy is within, and that makes it very, very difficult to deal with,” he said.
He therefore urged countries that had not yet experienced such threats to take preventive measures and confront emerging security challenges before they became entrenched.
“Please don’t allow it to take root. Nip it in the bud as quickly as possible,” he advised.
