BILATERAL RELATIONS AND THE CHALLENGES OF MULTINATIONAL JOINT TASK FORCE IN WEST AFRICA

The study examines issues and challenges of security community with a particular focus on the Multinational Joint Task Forces (MJTF) in combating Boko Haram insurgency in West Africa. The choice to examine these armed forces against Boko Haram is significant for a number of reasons. One, the threat of Boko Haram insurgency in West Africa emanates from the inherited irregular and poorly delineated colonial borders. Two, armed forces are deployed to safeguard the territorial integrity and national borders of the affected countries against external aggression. Third, issues of Boko Haram insurgency prominently features in the bilateral relations of Nigeria and its neighbouring states. Fourth, the government of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad established MNJTF as a form of collective security architecture against Boko Haram insurgency. Despite the establishment of MJTF, Boko Haram continues to wreck devastations in the Northeast Nigeria and other neighbouring states. Utilising secondary sources of data, the study concludes defective bilateral relations of Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBCs) countries adversely affect the functionality of MNJTF. It is therefore recommended that Lake Chad Basin Countries (LCBCs) need to correct problematic bilateral relations in order to successfully combat Boko haram menace in the West Africasub-region.