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Abstract
President Yahya Jammeh’s volte face, following his earlier acceptance of the verdicts of the Gambians during the 1 December 2016 presidential poll, did not only jolt the international community but, if not for the intervention of external actors, would have set the Gambia on the path of implosion. This article, based on desk analysis, examines the mediatory role of ECOWAS in the resolution of the 2016 post-election crisis in the Gambia. It notes that unlike the previous similar case in Cote d’Ivoire, ECOWAS took the lead in resolving the political crisis and thus demonstrated that Pax Africana is at work in the sub-region. It argues and concludes that ECOWAS with or without the support from outsiders has the capacity to take charge of threats to democracy and peace in member states, by deploying mediatory diplomacy backed with threat of coercion.
Abstract
Central to understanding the character of countries’ foreign policies are the personality traits of individuals who preside over the affairs of countries. This is even more so in Africa where institutions responsible for foreign policy making are not only weak, but are also overshadowed by the personality traits of powerful chief executives. It is against this background that this article, based on desk analysis, examines and compares the impact of leaders’ personality traits on Nigeria’s Afro-centric policy in the post-authoritarian era. Specifically, it attempts to lay bare why Nigeria’s Afro-centric policy, in post-Obasanjo era, has not enjoyed as much dynamism and vigour as it did during Obasanjo’s administration. Comparatively, it notes that President Obasanjo’s successors, Presidents Yar Adua and Jonathan, even though did not discountenance Nigeria’s age-long Afro-centric posture, but did not bring as much dynamism and aggressiveness to bear on it as did President Obasanjo. It argues that this may be unconnected majorly to these individuals’ different personality traits.