Niger Coup d’état: ECOWAS Should Lift Sanctions and Military Action -By Abdulazeez Alhassan

Niger and Nigeria have a long standing socio-economic, religious and political relationships. They boast a complex nexus of connections, histories, and shared ethnic groups that highlight their interwoven destinies. Niger republic has shared border with seven northern Nigeria states, including Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno at 1,608 kilometers.

The military coup in Niger which ousted president Bazoum began on 26 Wednesday, July 2023, has been widely condemned by the United Nations, The African Union, The European Union, ECOWAS and their former colonial power, France. Earlier, ECOWAS had sent two sets of diplomatic missions to Niamey, Niger, which the first set was led by Abdulsalam Abubakar, a former military ruler of Nigeria, and the second was headed by Muslim religious leader, Sheikh Balau, leader of the Izala movement in Nigeria. but Tchiani(Niger Military President) had refused to see them, citing “there could be a risk to the visitor’s security, adding that the sanctions and the threat of invasion from the regional bloc had created public anger, therefore, the delegation could not be hosted with calm and security” said the military president.

There are some speculations that the clerical delegation(second set) are in Niamey to douse tension created by the prospect of military intervention by ECOWAS and to subsequently explain to the junta leaders that Nigeria is not fighting Niger, and that the decisions taken on Niger are not Nigeria’s but those of ECOWAS as a regional bloc.

Recall that ECOWAS has imposed sanctions on Niger including border closure, disconnection of electricity, halting of financial transactions, and threat to use force to reinstate Bazoum.

The order on border closure has restricted the free flow of the foreign products and services. This, however affects, the communities of Illela in Sokoto, and Birnin Kounni in Niger have been depending on goods and services manned through the two borders. Meanwhile, residents of Dankama, a rural community in Nigeria have been lamenting the impact of the border closure, particularly on transportation.

The attention of ECOWAS Chairman and President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should be drawn to have a rethink to desist from using military actions. Hence, Nigeria is broke spending 96.6% of its revenue servicing debts, its military is overstretched, apart from being deployed in all the 36 states; it is struggling to overcome an almost 20years insurgency of boko haram, kidnappers, and bandits. ECOWAS should lift sanctions on Niger Republic and continue with its diplomatic mission. They should adopt negotiations, deliberations, compromise, and diplomacy. They should note that Niger and Nigeria have mutual socio-economic and security arrangements, Nigeria’s source of light is through the river Niger, which flows through Niger Republic to reach Nigeria’s dams.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be very cautious in his leadership, he should take sober reflection and scrutinise before taking any actions, he should first think of the consequences of sanction to his country. Deploying military action may not only greatly affect the innocent lives of the citizens in Niger, but also the Northern part of Nigeria, particularly the aforementioned states that share border with Niger. Nigeria being the giant nation that provides 70% of the ECOWAS funding will bear the brunt, both in material and human resources. Therefore, the President should however take into consideration the mandate given to him by Nigerians, so he has to be answerable to us before any organisation.

Abdulazeez Alhassan is the President of Universal Writers and Authors (UWA). He lives in Rigasa, Kaduna.