The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the Chairmanship of President Bola Tinubu has come under fire over planned military action against Niger Republic.
Tinubu who is also Nigeria’s President had written to Senate for approval to take military actions against the embattled country.
However, the lawmakers refused to grant the president permission and advised him to adopt more diplomatic measures.
This is as the regional body had given the Niger coup plotters led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, a seven-day ultimatum to restore power to the ousted President Mohammed Bazoom, an ultimatum which expired Sunday, August 6.
Before the expiration, Nigeria had disconnected power supply from the country to deter the citizens from supporting the junta while the junta had shut its airspace throwing many travelers to Europe to more.
Though ECOWAS leaders plan to meet on Thursday, August 10 in Abuja to finetune next line of action, the body has also imposed sanctions on Niger, including halting all financial transactions and freezing its national assets transactions of the individuals and groups having links with the coupists.
A delegation consisting of the representatives of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations w ill on Tuesday travel to Niger to meet with coup leaders.
French broadcaster RFI reported that the delegation is set to arrive in the Nigerien capital city of Niamey “in the coming hours” to hold talks with the rebels on behalf of the international community.
Reactions
However, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for the lifting of sanctions against Niger Republic by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and commended Nigerian Senators for rejecting military action against the West African country.
Prof Tukur Muhammad-Baba, Publicity Secretary of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in a statement, sought for more dialogue with the Niger military junta to prevent a further breakdown of talks following the expiration of the one-week deadline earlier given to the regime to restore democratic rule in the country.
According to the statement, ” we at the ACF would like to reiterate our condemnation of the coup and demand that the personal safety of President Mohamed Bazoum and members of his government be guaranteed by the coup leaders.”
“Nigeria and Niger have had brotherly relations over the years and the ACF upon reviewing the latest political impasse, economic sanctions and expiration of the one-week deadline given to the military junta in Niger have come to the conclusion that dialogue remains the best option to avoid a catastrophic occurrence of events between the two nations and the West African sub-region. We should utilise all available goodwill, diplomatic, political, economic and human assets to win back the confidence of the people of Niger, who have, historically, come to regard Nigeria as a Big Brother!”
“Towards this end, and to boost confidence measures: The ACF urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and ECOWAS to review the situation and restore full dialogue with the Nigerien military junta through the immediate lifting of the economic blockade and other sanctions imposed on the country as a sign of goodwill to facilitate swift dialogue.”
“We call on President Tinubu and ECOWAS to revisit their approach to the Niger imbroglio based on concrete realities including the fact that most countries surrounding Niger Republic are not all in the ECOWAS region as Algeria, Libya and Chad may view a potential military aggression as a declaration of war against their borders. With Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinean military juntas also declaring support for the Niger coup leaders, the situation calls for caution so as not to further conflagrate the West African region.”
” The ACF commends the members of the Northern Senators Forum for the excellent work they have done in convincing their colleagues in the Senate to totally reject the outright use of force against Niger Republic in an effort to see to the restoration of democratic governance in that country. We are particularly appreciative of the upper chamber of our National Assembly for toeing the line of a peaceful approach to the resolution of the potentially catastrophic conflict.”
“We strongly call on our government to intensify efforts towards further exploitation of peaceful, political and diplomatic measures to find a solution to the problem. As such, we want the Nigerian government to: Immediately restore the supply of electricity to Niger Republic; open all our borders with that country and allow free flow of people and goods into and from that country to Nigeria; and suspend all sanctions/restrictions imposed on that country in response to the calls by ECOWAS, AU, or any other authourity/country(ies), for that matter.”
“We also commend President Bola Tinubu for holding a meeting with the governors of Sokoto, Kebbi, Yobe, Katsina, and Jigawa among others that share contiguous borders with Niger Republic even as the ACF is asking him to continue to consult with relevant leaders within and outside Nigeria ahead of Thursday’s fresh meeting of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments.”
Also, a prominent socio-political activist, Dr. Mahdi Shehu has warned that any attack on the French-speaking country will be an attack on Nigeria.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE TV’s ‘News Night’ programme on Tuesday, Shehu insisted that a full-scale aggression on the Republic of Niger will not only affect the northern region of the country, but it will also have a damaging effect on Nigeria because most ethnic groups in the country are also represented in Niger.
He said “It is not only the north that will be affected. Get the demography well. Go to Niger Republic and get the demography of Nigerians that are staying there. There are Hausa, Igbos, Yorubas, Fulani, and Kanuris. Every tribe in Nigeria has a representation in the Niger Republic.
‘‘Therefore, you don’t have to see it as a northern affair, it is not. Maybe, northerners are predominant in Niger, but there are other tribes and ethnic extractions living there as well. These people have lived, settled, and even married there.
‘‘Therefore, an attack on the Niger Republic is not only an attack on the North, it is an attack on the whole of Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Political activist, Aisha Yesufu has berated President Tinubu over the methods employed in tackling the chaos in the Niger Republic.
In her Twitter handle, Yesufu condemned the president for his stringent measures.
She argued that if the Labour Party flag bearer, Peter Obi were president and replicating such measures, he would have come under heavy criticism.
The social activist opined that Tinubu is suffering from inferiority complex, hence his need to always try and prove himself.
According to her, “Imagine for a moment it was Peter Obi in office and he made a mess of the situation in Niger. The people whose voices would have been hoarse by now are quiet and blind to the immature handling of the whole situation.
“#NotMyPresidentTinubu used to crude handling of those who oppose started with the last resort
“Countries with military power to do what they like will still be using words like “All options are on the table but the illegitimate President in Nigeria heading ECOWAS decided to start threatening to use force.
“From someone they said has been prepared to rule from the beginning.
“Inferiority complex is dangerous especially in leadership position. In a desperate bid to be seen as one who knows what he is doing and also to get legitimacy #NotMyPresidentTinubu started from a bilateral deal that has been there for decades.”
