By Mahmoud Jalloh
ECOWAS Heads of State are having a meeting tomorrow, Thursday, to hold further discussion on the Niger crisis. I hope they come up with something worth listening to rather than the Disney Land wild dream they have been parading since the crisis began. In a world of lost trust, assurance is not enough, something the Niger Junta understand so well.
Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu and his fake disciples have little or no clue of what they are about to embark on, taking a hasty decision that may spell the beginning of the end of history. The Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso trio have threatened to leave the ECOWAS Regional Body to form their own defence and cooperation alliance if attacked, the same way the League of Nations disintegration began back in long history. My candid advise is for ECOWAS to do more to strengthen member-states democracies. Military intervention will not fix it.
No great power Nation was more contemptuous of the League of Nations than Italy, which saw that as an Anglo-World conspiracy to superimpose its hegemony upon others. Remember Harry Truman, President of the United States of America? He was the key architect behind the League of Nations Organisation. Italy was far more interested in expanding its empire by invading and annexing African territories. The end result was a boycott, chaos, and the eventual dissolution of the League of Nations. Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso were all former French colonies, whereas Nigeria, the undisputed West African Regional Power, was a former British colony. It is vital ECOWAS tread a cautious steps in order not to be misunderstood.
Positive self-interest that serves the common good isn’t a bad thing except that rules written by men require periodic revisiting and possible adjustments to remain relevant for changing times and purposes. Forgive me, but I think President Tinubu lacks foresight for him not to have seen the big, bold handwriting on the wall. As if the destabilising Boko Haram insurgency is not enough, President Tinubu wants to add to his country’s woes by laying the foundation for a potent external rebellion force that will engage Nigeria in protracted destructive guerilla warfare. Guerilla wars are wars of attrition that suck resources with hardly an obvious winner until one or both parties decide to lay down their arms by negotiating a peaceful end to the conflict.
When ECOWAS got itself involved in the Charles Taylor vs. Samuel K. Doe Liberia civil war, a military base, as agreed by the West African Leaders, was established in Sierra Leone, which infuriated warlord Charles Taylor with his hideout and bases being bombed by ECOMOG, the military wing of ECOWAS. Charles Taylor declared Sierra Leone a bitter enemy from that point on. We all witnessed what happened after that, with Liberia’s civil war spilling over to Sierra Leone in such ruthless and devastating manner beyond human comprehension.
Guinea was an ECOMOG base other alternative, and so if Sierra Leone was to go for it as it did, our President at the time, Joseph Saidu Momoh, should have asked for security assurance as an insurance cover from ECOWAS. He never did instead gambled the lives of poor innocent Sierra Leone people who ended up paying the price!! ECOWAS/ECOMOG can go ahead and drop bombs, fire bullets and dislodge the Niger Junta to then return back to their respective countries by leaving neighbouring Nigeria to carry the cross. I haven’t even talked about the financial costs involved. The last Gambian operation of a military intervention that was later aborted, ran into multiple million United States dollars, with Nigeria the highest financial contributor to the mission as will be this time again. Best of luck, Oga Big Boss.
