A former Chairman of the Progressives Congress (APC) in South Africa, Mr. Bola Babarinde, has urged President Bola Tinubu to pursue peace and avoid going to war with the Niger military junta.
The Tinubu-led Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had directed the closure of land and air borders by member states against the Niger Republic over a military coup that removed democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, from office.
Babarinde, in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday, advised Tinubu to resist any pressure to seek military intervention against the Niger military junta.
“Helping the Niger Republic find lasting peaceful solutions to the current impasse should not be by force of military intervention; negotiation between the military junta and the ousted President should be based on respect for both parties involved without taking sides.
“The main course of the coup should be sincerely discussed and advise given.
“The military threat to restore civil rule in Niger will be catastrophic for Nigeria in many ways; extra spending on military resources while we have our own unresolved internal insurgencies in the south-east and Northern parts of the country.
“The impacts of the inflow of potential refugees will be a big burden on Nigeria.
“If the military concerns about the leadership of the ousted President are genuine and patriotic, the mediators should use wisdom and tact in deploying diplomacy for peaceful settlement even if the junta will be given time to conduct a fresh election within the next year,” he said.
The former APC diaspora chairman said the landlocked French-speaking country sharing expansive boundaries and borders with northern Nigeria, has numerous leadership and governance challenges.
“Change in administrations hasn’t brought the needed development to the country as a result of mismanagement by political leaders and poverty in that country, including the exploitation of their mineral resources.”
