The Role of Nigeria in Peacekeeping Operations from 1960 to 2013

Abstract

Peace keeping is a peaceful third party intervention which operates with a set of guiding principles that include the consent of the parties to the conflict, impartiality and the non use of force except in self-defense. This paper examines peacekeeping operations across the globe, particularly, in Africa and West African sub-region, with emphasis on Nigeria’s role in the Liberian and Sierra Leone crises. It also analyzes the costs and benefits of the operations to the country within the period under review. The idealist theory was adopted as the tool of analysis, while the methodology was the systematic qualitative content analysis derived mainly from secondary sourced materials. The paper found out that keeping peace in one country is invariably saving an entire sub-region or region from possible spillover effects. More so, the resources expended on peacekeeping operations by Nigeria are at the expense of the country’s domestic imperatives –welfare of citizens and infrastructural development. The paper concludes by recommending reduction of financial cost of peacekeeping and prioritizing the welfare of citizens.