Nigeria ponders its role following Lome accord

With the signing of the Sierra Leone peace accord, Nigeria quickly announced a programme for the phased withdrawal of its estimated 12,000 troops serving in the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). Does this mean the end of intervention by the regional giant in West Africa's conflicts? Many analysts think that is neither the case nor desirable, even if Nigeria is keen to drop what has been a costly burden. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan conveyed much the same message at the weekend when he visited Nigeria for two days en route to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Algiers. "I am here to thank Nigeria for its efforts in the region on peacekeeping and trying to make sure that we are able to calm the waters and settle the crisis in the region from Liberia to Sierra Leone," Annan told reporters during his visit. He said the United Nations planned to expand its peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in Sierra Leone towards the implementation of the peace agreement and would work with ECOMOG for that purpose. [See separate item titled 'AFRICA: IRIN Special report on Nigeria and peacekeeping']