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Preface and Acknowledgement This monograph is written with the intention to highlight the necessity for taking preventive measures in the form of peace-building as a sustainable and long-term solution to conflicts in the West African sub-region, with a special focus on the Mano River Union countries. Apart from the Mano River Union countries, efforts at resolving other conflicts in say, Guinea Bissau, Senegal/Casamance, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria have suffered from a lack of attention on the post-conflict imperatives of building peace in order to ensure that sustainable peace is achieved. Given the often intractable and inter-related nature of conflicts in this region, I argue for the need to revisit the existing mechanisms of conflict resolution in the sub-region with a view to canvassing a stronger case for stakeholders towards adopting the peace-building strategy as a more practical and sustainable way of avoiding wars in the sub-region. Whether in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire or in Nigeria people desire long-lasting peace without which even minimal development is impossible. As conceptualised and presented in detail in this book, peacebuilding in consonance with its infrastructure is a more sustainable approach to ensuring regional peace and stability and, therefore, ensuring development for the peoples of West Africa. I am greatly indebted to many who have contributed to what is written in this book: - scholars, statesmen, activists, libraries and Non-governmental organisations. In particular, I wish to acknowledge Ebrima Sall and other scholars at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala; and my colleagues at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, in particular Cyril Obi, Charles Dokubo and S.B. Peters. I also, extend my appreciation to the two assessors who went through the manuscript for their incisive suggestions . Their comments went a long way in improving the quality of this book. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the financial contributions of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in Senegal and the NIIA, Lagos for ensuring that this project is completed. Osita Agbu February 2005 ...

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