ASHENEWS reports that the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) advised President Bola Tinubu and Chairman of the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) against deploying military power on the neighbouring Niger Republic.
The group, in a statement by the spokesperson, Abdul-Azzez Suleiman emailed to this online platform on Saturday, observed that “war in Niger will engulf the entire West African sub-region and bring about mass killings and suffering of innocent people.”
According to the statement, “About seven northern Nigerian states that share a border with the Niger Republic namely Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno will be negatively affected,” and “the new military junta in the Niger Republic enjoys enormous goodwill among the vast majority of the citizens of the country with demonstrations in rural and urban Niger.”
The CNG called “on the federal government not to rush into war without exhausting every economic and diplomatic means to pressure the junta in Niger to return power to the democratically elected government.”
It also cautioned President Tinubu that, “in consideration of our own national interest, military intervention in Niger must be an absolutely last option for Nigeria, given our own present domestic fragility.”
Read the statement below:
OUR STAND ON FEARS FOR THE LIKELIHOOD OF NIGERIA LEADING ECOWAS TO WAR IN NIGER REPUBLIC
In its usual tradition, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has watched and observed with keen attention the unfolding scenario in Niger Republic since July 26, 2023, when the country’s Commander of the Presidential Guards, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power.
The CNG also notes also the critical situation Nigeria is in, in the context of a complex chain of intrigues and intricacies of international politics involving the Western powers, the Russian Eastern bloc, China, the African community, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) head by Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
CNG notes especially the continued drive towards an ECOWAS military intervention to oust the ruling military authorities currently in Niger and presumably restore democracy in the country.
We note the initial measures taken by President Tinubu as the leader of ECOWAS, which included summoning other West African leaders and issuing an ultimatum that Bazoum be reinstated or a strong regional military force will be deployed to forcefully reinstate him.
This was followed by President Tinubu sending a delegation consisting of the former Head of State, retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar, to meet the Military High Command in Niger.
And on Friday, President Tinubu wrote to the Nigerian Senate to inform it of an impending “Military buildup and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger, should they remain recalcitrant.”
Then the Federal Government ordered the closure and monitoring of all land borders with the Niger Republic and reactivating the border drilling exercise, cutting off the electricity supply and mobilising international support for the implementation of the provisions of the ECOWAS communiqué.
We note as well that the Northern Senators Forum has emphatically rejected the option of the use of military force in Niger.
OBSERVATIONS
Based on the above-stated highlights of the scene in Niger, the CNG inadvertently arrived at the following inevitable observations:
1. That a sinister international power game is at play in Niger with Western powers on one hand, Russia and China, on the other, and some other African countries playing behind the scenes.
2. With developments in other Sahel countries that are part of a global power chess game, any military intervention in Niger would be resisted and considered as an invasion by Russia/China, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which could get very messy and protracted.
3. That war in Niger will engulf the entire West African sub-region and bring about mass killings and suffering of innocent people.
4. That about seven northern Nigerian states that share a border with Niger Republic namely Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno will be negatively affected.
5. That at the moment, the new military junta in the Niger Republic enjoys enormous goodwill among the vast majority of the citizens of the country with demonstrations in rural and urban Niger.
6. That in Nigeria, the tide of public opinion is overwhelmingly against any form of Nigeria-led military aggression to restore civilian rule in Niger.
7. That Nigeria would be expected to expend billions to execute the war when the country is grappling with its harsh economic realities.
8. That it could be interpreted as illegal that Nigeria cuts off power exported to Niger, Benin, and Togo based on Multilateral Energy Sales Agreement on the basis that they would not dam the waters that feed Nigeria’s major power plants in Kainji, Shiroro, and Jebba.
OUR STAND
1. We join other Nigerians, particularly the Northern Senators Forum, in rejecting the option of war and calling instead for political and diplomatic means to restore democratic government in that country.
2. We call on the federal government not to rush into war without exhausting every economic and diplomatic means to pressure the junta in Niger to return power to the democratically elected government.
3. To caution President Tinubu that, in consideration of our own national interest, military intervention in Niger must be an absolutely last option for Nigeria, given our own present domestic fragility.
4. To invite ECOWAS and the international community to understand that bilateral friendships are guided by the principles of sovereignty, promotion of peace, and the standards that guide legitimate interference.
5. To remind Nigeria, ECOWAS, and the international community to weigh the impact and consequences of a destabilized Niger Republic, which will certainly threaten the peace and security of the entire sub-Saharan African continent.
6. To warn that a war in Niger will only compound the security and humanitarian situations in the West African sub-region and further worsen the situation on the African continent, disrupt international cohesion, and compound the despondent cases of human trafficking, migration, and other challenges the continent and the world are now facing.
7. To specifically caution President Tinubu that acceding to such a dangerous, ill-advised, and self-destructive option of leading a war in the Niger Republic has the potential to consume not only him but also Nigeria and the ECOWAS he heads today.
8. To call on the Nigerian Senate, the Council of State, and the Nigerian Governors Forum to guide the President properly against leading a military intervention in Niger and to restore the electricity supply to it.
9. To remind the Senate and the Nigerian Presidency that Nigeria entered into bilateral agreements to export electricity to Niger, Benin, and Togo so that the three countries will not build dams on the River Niger and that the purported cut of supply to Niger could amount to a breach.
Abdul-Azeez Suleiman
CNG Spokesperson
