Regional Organizations and Response to Political Threat: A Review of the Role of ECOWAS in Ebola and Boko Haram Crises

The Economic Community of West Africa like all regional and international bodies takes priority in promoting peace and security for their members. However, the responses by ECOWAS have been contradictory in many cases where they have been confronted with issues of security in the region. This paper examines the response of ECOWAS’ to the issues of Ebola outbreak and Boko Haram Crises. It delves into the origins of both Ebola and Boko Haram and assesses the damage it has caused the West African sub region. The paper further critically analyses the response of ECOWAS to these two issues in the context of the protocol established to deal with issues of regional security threat. The paper finds that even though the regional body’s response to Ebola was unduly delayed, its actions contributed to the curtailing of the spread of the deadly disease. However, ECOWAS’ response to the activities of Boko Haram has not been encouraging as the protocol established by the ECOWAS to deal with issues of terrorism relating to regional security threat has not been invoked to deal with the security threat posed by the members of Boko Haram. Therefore, the paper concludes that the regional body’s response to Boko Haram has been poor and disappointing and calls on the governments of the countries in the ECOWAS region to take proactive steps to curtail the Boko Haram issues so as to bring lasting peace in Nigeria and the region.