There has been increasing international spotlight on a small country in the Sahel region of West Africa called Niger since the presidential guard of the country ousted the democratically elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum in a military coup.
Niger is a desert country with a population of about 27 million people and a total land area of 1,267,000 km² (489,191 miles ).
Since the coup, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has imposed sanctions on the country and is threatening to militarily force out the junta to restore democracy in the country.
The ECOWAS position is said to be driven by the fact that the deteriorating security situation in the country directly affects the stability of the region as a whole. The security situation in the country, endemic corruption and undue influence of France in the affairs of Niger are some of the reasons why the military junta decided to seize power.
ECOWAS leaders further fear that the instability in Niger Republic has the potential to spill over into neighboring countries, exacerbating existing security challenges. Keen observers, however, have been suggesting that the reasons proffered by ECOWAS for their positions on the Niger situation are far more than they advance and must include the protection of some international interests.
ECOWAS’ intended military intervention in Niger Republic, majority of Africans both in the continent and abroad insist, will open new frontiers of crises otherwise unknown to the West Africa region. Leaders, scholars and different schools of thought are, therefore, calling for a diplomatic resolution of the impasse.
Most youths whose opinions were sampled are of the view that it is time that all African youths, champions of African unity, the African Union, African Diasporans and civic organizations like the United Pan African Movement (UPAM) make bold statements as well as take strong steps to convince the various governments in the West African region to seek peaceful resolution of this imbroglio.
At this stage of Africa’s growth, at this level of its technological advancement and increasing political and democratic progress, a united Africa in which all of its peoples stand for peace as the strategic impetus for rapid growth, development and true freedom from colonial intervention and subjugation, cannot be over emphasized.
President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, as the ECOWAS chairman should seek a diplomatic approach to a peaceful transition to democratic rule in the Republic of Niger. War in Niger will lead to catastrophic consequences for the West African sub region. An area of 5.2 million square kilometres, with a population of 440,911,173 as of Saturday, August 5, 2023, based on the latest United Nations estimates, which is equivalent to 5.47% of the total world population, that ranks number 2 in Africa among subregions, cannot afford to be destabilized.
West Africa for over two decades has been plagued by food and water shortages resulting from desertification arising from the climate change crises. The region has also been grappling with a range of security challenges, including terrorism, armed conflicts, and human trafficking. Activities of extremist groups such as Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have resulted in over 7.8 million internally displaced people (IDPs), 1.6 million refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as 931,200 stateless persons, according to UNHCR’s 2022 global report. These cannot be allowed to continue.
ECOWAS also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. It was formed when 15 heads of West African States came together to sign the ECOWAS Treaty on May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria. Its stated mission is to promote economic integration across the region as well as foster peace and development amongst its member states and across the African continent. It was formed as an alliance to provide regional economic cooperation but has since evolved to include political and military cooperation, as well.
The region, which prior to colonialism, was the center piece of global ancient civilization, wealth and intellectual prowess, had a host of proud empires and kingdoms that spanned centuries, some of which are Benin, Oyo, Kanem Bornu, Mali, Wolof, Ghana, Songhai and Mali empires.
The region was and still is greatly influenced by its colonizers – the British, French and Portuguese – who determined the boundaries of its fifteen member states and the emergence of the region’s three official languages of English, French and Portuguese.
The discovery of Gold, Crude Oil, Uranium, Cobalt and other natural resources that are highly sought after in the global market has in the last two and a half decades attracted new global economic and political powers to the region like the United States of America, Russia and China, and has set a new stage for political unrest and coups in an area that is now known as the “coup belt.” Instability has plagued the region since the 1960s and according to a BBC report, since 1990, 78% of the 27 coups in sub-Saharan Africa have taken place in former French colonies.
According to historic accounts, the region’s first effort at integration dates back to 1945 with the creation of the CFA franc that brought the francophone countries of the region into a single currency union. Then in 1964, the then Liberian president, William Tubman proposed an economic union for West Africa leading to an agreement which was signed in 1965 by the four states of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea. It was not until 1972 when the then Nigerian head of state Gen Yakubu Gowon and his Togolese counterpart Gnassingbe Eyadema toured the region in support of the integration idea that a proposal for a union of West African States became a reality. Their combined efforts then formed the basis for the emergence of the treaty of Lagos in 1975.
The West African region’s very rich cultural, linguistic and ecological diversity presents both opportunities and challenges for its integration process. Its will to become a political and economic power bloc led by Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, Nigeria, has, also always been recognised as a great step needed to leapfrog the region to prosperity as it strives to solve as one body the multiple problems that it is facing.
West Africa boasts, as the region, of some of the youngest population of youths in the world which serves as a potential pool for talents. These potential innovators are surplus in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal. The region has now, however, become the hub of Africa exports to the world of talents for entertainment from Afrobeats and Nollywood both of which gross over $80 billion dollars.
As member states emerged from their different colonial experiences and administrations that led to their political independence, the efforts to foster integration for political stability and peace has led to ECOWAS also evolving into maintaining a standby peacekeeping force in the region, with member states occasionally sending joint military forces to intervene in the bloc’s member countries at times of political instability and unrest. In recent years these interventions have been witnessed in Ivory Coast in 2003, Liberia in 2003, Guinea-Bissau in 2012, Mali in 2013, and The Gambia in 2017.The military coups d’état that led to the transition governments in Mali and Burkina Faso cancelled military agreements that allow for French troops to operate on their territories, and in the more recent case of Mali, removing French as an official language.
As fears of war loom in Niger and the West African sub-region, due to the proposed military intervention in Niger by ECOWAS, an unprecedented reaction of support for Niger by the military governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea has been witnessed which will open up a new and unprecedented chapter of a possible proxy war for the United States and its allies on one side and Russia on another side. Such a war will leave the region totally destroyed and in chaos as was experienced in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
There needs to be a call for calm and rational resolution of the impasse by all Africans both at home and abroad, especially those who love Africa and pursue peace. Africa cannot afford another war. It cannot benefit from what will disturb its peace and truncate its development.
Dr. Aluya, MD MBBS is the President, Nigerian Americans Public Affairs Committee – USA (NAPAC-USA).
