Niger
Jibrin Ibrahim
An Open Letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR
Topic: The Niger Coup d’état: Aligning ECOWAS and Our National Interest
To: H E Bola Ahmed Tinubu
The President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
From: Concerned Citizens
Date: Abuja, 9th August 2023
1) We join the Nigerian Government, the Authority of Heads of State of ECOWAS and the peoples of West Africa in condemning the coup of 26th July in the Republic of Niger that detained and sought to overthrow the Constitutional order in the Republic of Niger and illegally detained the legitimate Head of State, His Excellency President Mohamed Bazoum as well as members of his family and government;
2) We applaud and appreciate the immediate steps that HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chair of Authority of Heads of State, has taken in the form of statements, communiqués, missions and consultations with regional, continental, and world leaders for the immediate restoration of constitutional order in the Republic of Niger;
3) We firmly support the principle of Zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government as enshrined in the ECOWAS and African Union Protocols and other instruments;
4) We understand the factors that led to the very strong measures in terms of sanctions, economic blockade and the possible use of force in re-establishing constitutional order;
5) We believe that HE President Mohamed Bazoum remains the legitimate elected President and Head of State of the Republic of Niger recognized by ECOWAS, the African Union and the international community; In this regard, we recognize that only official acts of President Bazoum or his duly mandated officials should be recognized.
6) Nonetheless, we respectfully observe as follows:
i. Niger is a very dear, brotherly and supportive neighbour to Nigeria and its people and measures taken should not be allowed to harm the Nigerien people;
ii. The cutting off of electricity supply to Niger, breaking a longstanding treaty obligation, may ultimately harm our national interest especially within the perspective of the Kandadji dam currently under construction by the Nigerien Government;
iii. The apparent rising wave of popular support for the putschists might create a situation in which the role of Nigeria is seen as being at variance with the interest of the Nigerien people and in support of external interests;
iv. Already, there is an orchestrated campaign in the social and traditional media portraying Nigeria in a negative light as an agent of France and the United States.
v. The strong presence of French, American and to a lesser extent Italian security personnel and assets, including a large US drone base, creates a situation that could easily transform an intervention for the restoration of democracy into a complex proxy war fought out by foreign interests engaged in the new geopolitical repositioning of world powers.
vi. In this regard, the current security challenges of insecurity around the Boko Haram insurgency, farmer-herder conflicts, banditry and mass kidnapping might all be exacerbated as the flow of arms, violent extremism and armed banditry spread and deepen in our sub-region.
vii. Nigeria has a serious humanitarian crisis, with millions of internally displaced persons and hundreds of thousands of refugees including in Niger. It is important to prevent the worsening of the humanitarian crisis.
viii. It is therefore important that as a Nation, we align our approach to the restoration of democracy in Niger to our national interests.
Our Prayers
A. Create conditions for the restoration of Track 1 as well as Track 2 diplomacy by making a gesture to the putschists through measures such as the withdrawal of the threat of use of force;
B. Immediate deployment of Track 2 diplomacy through traditional rulers, religious leaders and civil society to urge the junta to open doors to diplomatic discussions between the two governments – Nigeria and Niger as well as the Authority of Heads of State of ECOWAS.
C. Provide assurances to the Nigerien people of Nigeria’s commitment to maintaining friendship and fraternal relations with the government and people of Niger.
D. Improve Nigeria’s strategic communication showing actions undertaken are in tandem with our long-standing commitment to the protection and consolidation of democracy within Nigeria, ECOWAS and Africa.
E. Make clear our collective resolve towards the full restoration of constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
A B Mahmoud SAN
Prof Jibrin Ibrahim
Gen (rtd) M L Agwai
Prof Attahiru Jega
Amb Fatima Balla
Prof M J Kuna
Dr Kole Shettima
Dr. Hussaini Abdu
Malam Kabiru Yusuf
Mrs. Maryam Uwais
Kabiru Adamu
Mouftah Baba Ahmed
Dr. Usman Bugaje
Dr. Yahya Hashim
Dr Aisha Oyebode
Cornelius Hamelberg
What a beautiful, considerate, responsible, compassionate, sensible, diplomatic appeal.
That was really something good coming out of Africa...
Copies should be sent to all concerned, to the leaders of the Junta, to the heads of the ECOWAS Nations, to schools and universities, to the Secretary-General of the UN, to Macron, Biden, the Wagner Group people and to The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, as every positive detail in this letter to President Tinubu reflects the spirit of Dag Hammarskjöld and of course, ideally speaking, the true African spirit of peace and love, of dialogue and the spirit of true, sincere Brotherhood.
Until a special Peace Prize is instituted by ( The Africa Union?) the authors of the letter deserve the Nobel Prize for Peace and The Right Livelihood Award
I have sent a copy of the letter to our radical Pan-Africanist brother from Ghana, and captioned it “ A real brothers' keepers appeal”
Emmanuel Udogu
In my opinion, this is a splendid template for solving the current political imbroglio in the region. But as I have argued elsewhere, we have never had problems with solutions for tackling our political, economic, and social quagmires in Africa. Therefore, what we need in our continent are patriotic leaders with courage to implement these solutions.
Moreover, may I suggest that ECOWAS should concentrate on boosting the region’s economy, the original intent of the community for as the saying goes a “hungry man is an angry man.”
Good luck!!!
Ike Udogu
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Cornelius Hamelberg
Dompere, Kofi Kissi
THANKS!!! IKE UDOGU MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
THERE ARE GOING TO BED CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE LEADERS THAT ARE COLLABORATING WITH NATO IMPERIALISM AND THE ELIGHTENED MASS
SEEKING INDEPENDENCE AND AFRICAN DIGNITY.
KOFI
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Jibrin Ibrahim
Niger Coup: Defending Democracy or Combating French Neo-colonialism
Jibrin Ibrahim, Deepening Democracy Column, Daily Trust, 11th August 2023
The ECOWAS emergency summit yesterday started well. Chairman Bola Tinubu in his opening remarks called for a focus on the use of diplomatic channels and negotiations. As I was writing this column to commend the new approach, news broke out that ECOWAS, has ordered its standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic. The President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray made the declaration while reading the resolutions of the meeting. He also called on the African Union, partner countries and institutions to support the resolution taken by the sub-regional body. ECOWAS said all efforts made to dialogue with Niger Republic military junta have been defiantly rejected by coup leaders as they condemn continuous detention of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family members. They then directed the committee of the Chiefs of Defence Staff to activate the ECOWAS stand-by force with all its elements immediately to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. The path taken is that of escalation.
Niger Republic has already been hit by the most severe sanctions regime in the history of the region. Financial transactions have been blocked, the country is very dependent on food imports especially from Nigeria and that too has been blocked as is the case with drugs. The cut of electricity supply from Nigeria, breaking a treaty obligation, has had a devastating effect and hospitals cannot do operations as patients die. The long history of fraternal relations between Nigeria and Niger is unravelling within one week.
There is no surprise that a significant part of public opinion in Niger Republic is upset with Nigeria over the said threat of armed restoration of democratic order using the ECOWAS Standby Force. The Nigeriens are screaming at the top of their voices that this historical juncture is for the dismantling of French neo-colonialism not democracy. There is a rising campaign, significantly facilitated by the Russian Wagner Group, that opposition to military rule is tantamount to supporting French and American imperialism. The narrative is presenting ECOWAS and Nigeria as the new lap dogs of French and American imperialism. Nigeria has not changed its position of support for democracy protection based on the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. These are our shared values which Nigeria and ECOWAS are insisting must be respected.
Nigeria may suffer considerably if Niger withdraws its role as buffer keeping out violent extremists from the Sahel. Cooperation with them on the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram would also suffer. I had hoped that the warm reception the putschists offered Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi II, when he engaged in Track 2 diplomacy on Wednesday would have opened doors which Nigeria and ECOWAS would have reciprocated by rolling back some of the most severe sanctions affecting the supply of electricity, food and drugs so that dialogue and the search for a way forward can start in earnest. Reverting to the threat of the use of force will only make them more stubborn. The people in Niger are focusing on the immediate imperative of liberation from French imperial stranglehold and were expecting their friends and neighbours to be supportive.
We published an open letter to President Tinubu yesterday pointing out that Nigeria has high stakes on this matter because Niger is a very dear, brotherly and supportive neighbour and its people and measures taken should not be allowed to harm the Nigerien people. The cutting off of electricity supply to Niger, breaking a longstanding treaty obligation, may ultimately harm our national interest especially within the perspective of the Kandadji dam currently under construction by the Nigerien Government. The apparent rising wave of popular support for the putschists might create a situation in which the role of Nigeria is seen as being at variance with the interest of the Nigerien people and in support of external interests.
Nigeria should be concerned about the orchestrated campaign in the social and traditional media portraying Nigeria in a negative light as an agent of France and the United States. The strong presence of French, American and to a lesser extent Italian security personnel and assets, including a large US drone base, creates a situation that could easily transform an intervention for the restoration of democracy into a complex proxy war fought out by foreign interests engaged in the new geopolitical repositioning of world powers. In this regard, the current security challenges of insecurity around the Boko Haram insurgency, farmer-herder conflicts, banditry and mass kidnapping might all be exacerbated as the flow of arms, violent extremism and armed banditry spread and deepen in our sub-region. It is therefore important that as a Nation, we align our approach to the restoration of democracy in Niger to our national interests.
In line with Tinubu’s opening speech yesterday, we should have created conditions for the restoration of Track 1 as well as Track 2 diplomacy by making a gesture to the putschists through measures such as the withdrawal of the threat of use of force and cutting back at the most severe sanctions that affect the people. We should be providing assurances to the Nigerien people of Nigeria’s commitment to maintaining friendship and fraternal relations with the government and people of Niger. Nigeria also needs to improve its strategic communication showing actions undertaken are in tandem with our long-standing commitment to the protection and consolidation of democracy within Nigeria, ECOWAS and Africa.
France has been the most malevolent of colonial powers that is not ready to give up control even seventy years of “independence. It Francafrique policy has been known for its exploitative systems designed to profit from African resources, using pressure, capital, and frequently outright force to maintain control over its former empire. As a result, many African states, including Niger, continue to face poverty and underdevelopment. The time for revolt has come. France has blatantly refused to allow its colonies establish their own currencies so its tactics are not even hidden. Francophone Africa should however realise that it would be regressing if it sacrifices democracy to fight neo-colonialism. We require both freedom and democracy.
Over the years, France has demonstrated a pattern of intervening militarily - over 50 times since 1960 - in African countries to secure governments that remain compliant with French economic interests, particularly related to the continued use of the CFA Franc. The reality is that France has been dependent on Africa for its status as a world power for more than a century. It has imposed treaties that enslave them to France. As they combat the French, they should realise that we, their ECOWAS neighbours, are their friends who want them to enjoy freedom from France and democratic rights in the conduct of their affairs.
Finally, Niger should remember that it has a lot of vulnerabilities and has benefited enormously from support from Nigeria over the years. They should be aware that Wagner might make promises but its interest is also to exploit their mineral resources. It has to be less recalcitrant if a way forward is to be found.
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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