This post originally appeared on the Council on Foreign Relations The Internationalist Blog and is written by Kate Almquist Knopf, director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, and Payton Knop…

When it comes to civil liberties in Africa, Western governments and institutions must put their monies where their mouths are.

While no one disputes the merits of boosting intra-African trade, a host of formidable obstacles stand in the way of realizing the Agreement’s vision, not least among them the ability of governments, and the people in them, to follow through on their promises.

The Nigerian Civil war, which lasted from July 1966 to January 1970, remains the most significant event in the country’s post-independence history in ways reminiscent of the American Civil War. In th…