Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol on Free Movement and National Security: A Case Study of Nigeria (Published)
Ensuring the safety and security of countries is a priority for governments worldwide. As a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nigeria has supported the integration and movement of goods, people, and services through the adoption of the Protocol on Free Movement (PFM). However, the unrestricted movement of people across porous borders can pose security threats, particularly with the trafficking of small arms and light weapons (SALW). This paper examines the potential security threats that could arise from the protocol on free movement of people and goods and highlights the importance of collaboration with other countries to achieve safe and secure borders. The study utilized a desk research method that relied heavily on secondary data to analyze relevant materials. The findings indicate that while the protocol enhances economic integration and financial stability, organized transnational criminal networks have taken advantage of free movement to perpetuate various forms of crime such as human trafficking, arms trafficking, and terrorism. The paper argues that regional integration is crucial but must be balanced with the need to maintain National Security in Nigeria. To address the challenges posed by free movement, the paper recommends that the Nigerian government needs to be strategic while endorsing international treaties to reflect the national interest of securing the Country. Strategies should be developed to monitor porous borders to check the illegal flow of arms, and efforts should be made to mop up illegal arms through the speedy establishment of the National Commission for the coordination and control of the proliferation of small Arms and Light Weapon (NATCOM) bill awaiting assent from the president. Additionally, intelligence sharing should be enhanced to promote regional integration while maintaining national security.
Keywords: Economic Integration, Ecowas, National Security, PFM, arms proliferation
Economic and Financial Integration of Arab Countries: Presence and prospective (Review Completed - Accepted)
Under present circumstances ,there is an increasing importance of Arab countries to be economically and financially integrated as this will lead these countries to cope with the ever growing international economic and financial blocs. Among these is the giant E.U. ,NAFTA , and APEC economic blocs . Economic blocks with collective self-reliance have many positive effects in terms of decision-making in various fields on both the local and international levels . The international rapid developments and changes are bound to have a negative effect on individual Arab State economies because they are facing giant economic blocs. This is the era of international financial and economic blocs. The integration between the Arab countries will lead to reduce the gap with international economic blocs and to face the negative effects of the phenomenon of globalization and other challenges . An Arab economic bloc will have many
benefits that will be accrued by the Arab countries in the future. However, different accelerating conditions and developments may have big negative impacts on the Arab individual economies when facing and probably compete with these giant blocs. Economic integration and self dependence among Arab Countries would lessen the gap between the predetermined Arab bloc and global economic blocs and make Arabs able to face the negative influences of globalizations and other challenges. The main aim of this study is to focus on the realities of Arab economic and financial integration prospects and how to face all the challenges of the twenty-first century in order to become, economically, financial and Politically integrated and strong
Keywords: Economic Blocs, Economic Integration, Financial Integration, Integration Barriers