A high-level forum marking the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened at the University of Oxford this week, drawing former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, Ghana’s Acting High Commissioner, and a representative of the Burkinabè diaspora among its featured speakers.
The event brought together students, scholars, and political figures to reflect on ECOWAS’s legacy, once hailed as a model for regional integration in Africa, and its increasingly uncertain future. The forum was facilitated and moderated by Ryan Cauwenberghs, an MSc student in African Studies at the University of Oxford. Having worked in various capacities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritania, and Togo, Cauwenberghs brings a deep understanding of the region. His academic and professional interests focus on security dynamics, societal structures, and international relations in Central and West Africa.
Delivering the keynote address, Obasanjo, a founding architect of ECOWAS, offered a sobering assessment. He recalled early efforts to advance free movement, trade integration, and pan-African solidarity, but warned that those gains now hang in the balance.
“The trust that once existed among West African leaders is eroding,” Obasanjo said. “Without cooperation and committed leadership, the region cannot move forward.”
His remarks came amid growing concern over regional instability and the rise of competing alliances such as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), formed in defiance of ECOWAS by military-led governments in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Echoing Obasanjo’s concerns, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed pointed to a deeper malaise afflicting the regional body: poor governance, a deficit of trust, and weak institutional accountability.
“These failures are not abstract—they impact people’s lives every day,” he told the audience.
Mohammed, a former senator and now a sitting governor in Nigeria’s northwest, highlighted reform efforts in his state as a case study in responsive governance. He said his administration prioritises transparency, local empowerment, and a leadership culture rooted in accountability—principles he urged ECOWAS to embrace if it is to survive another half-century.
The forum closed with a renewed call for regional solidarity, though the tone was markedly sombre. As the organisation enters its sixth decade, the challenge for ECOWAS, participants agreed, will be not only preserving its foundational ideals, but adapting them to a rapidly shifting political landscape.
