NIGERIAS ROLE IN AFRICAN SUB-REGIONAL INTEGRATION: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES.

Alpheaus, Chika J. and Kalu, Godson Uchechukwu
Keywords: Regional Integration, ECOWAS, West Africa
Clifford University International Journal of Development Studies (CLUIJODS) 2023 3(), 156 - 168. Published: December 2023

Abstract

Nigeria is the arrowhead of the Economic Communities of West African States and plays an important role in instituting economic and political integration among West African states. The study examines Nigeria's recent roles in maintaining regional integration in crisis situations through ECOWAS. This study aims to fill and enrich the literature by recognizing and addressing the unique challenges of sub-regional integration in Africa. The majority of the data for this investigation came from secondary sources. This includes publications on the subject, such as books, newspapers, websites, and journal articles. This study used a content analysis to carefully examine the documents it had gathered for it. This study concludes that: Nigeria roles in sub regional integration has significantly declined in recent years due to the internal problems faced by the country such as insurgency, banditry and separatist agitation. This has affected the performance level of Nigeria in regional integration via socioeconomic reforms. Among other things the study recommends that Nigeria should share some of its bulk responsibilities with other stable West African nations in order to ensure efficient policy delivery in propagating regional integration while tending to the series of problems faced back home.