•Say African leaders insensitive to plight of the people
By Tony Manuaka and Henry Uche
In his acceptance speech as chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Bola Tinubu sounded a note of warning to prospective coup plotters in the sub-region. He said: “We will not accept coup after coup in West Africa again…We didn’t give our soldiers resources, we didn’t invest in them, in their boots, in their training to violate the freedom of the people.”
That was on July 9, 2023. Seventeen days later, the presidential guard in the Republic of Niger, led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, took over government, clamped President Mohamed Bazoum into detention and levelled grave allegations of high treason against him.
Could the coup plotters have been angered by Tinubu’s proclamation?
Following Nigeria’s President’s quest for war to restore the ousted government in Niger and dissenting voices against the invasion of the country, the Department of History and International Studies, Lagos State University, convoked a conference of experts in international relations, law and strategic studies to examine the national, regional and global ramifications of the coup and its fallouts. Moderated by Dr. Adewunmi Falode, head of the Department of History and International Studies at the university, the event turned out to be very engaging fireworks of informed commentaries.
Jamiu Oluwatoki, renowned professor of international relations at the university, who led the pack of erudite scholars, queried Nigeria’s credibility to invade Niger. Worried about the seemingly lack of strategy on the part of Nigeria and ECOWAS that first issued a threat of war before exploring diplomatic options, the don declared that “nobody who issues a threat and comes back for dialogue and diplomacy would be taken seriously.” He warned that Nigeria must respect the sovereignty of Niger Republic.
But for Dr. Olawale Lawal, military option is part of diplomacy. According to him, where communication of problems fails to yield results and consultations fail, then the only available option could be confrontation. Lawal, who examined diplomacy and peaceful resolution, posited that, “When leaders fail to deliver what is popularly known as dividends of democracy, the people have no option than to take drastic measures.”
From a legal perspective, Arebamen Obadan of the Department of Public and Private Law maintained that there were laws prohibiting coup d’état but the political leaders lacked the political will to implement them. He noted that lack of will to deliver quality governance has been the cause of socio-economic and political turmoil across sub-Saharan Africa.
Obadan, who dwelt on the legality of military intervention, added that African leaders were not committed to abiding by the legal frameworks against military interventions. “We’re not short of laws, Niger Republic has laws that prohibits this coup d’état, but the leaders are insensitive to the plight of their citizens,” he stressed.
Similarly, an international strategist, Dr. Habeeb Sanni, while stressing that coup d’état is an anathema to democratic principles, declared that ECOWAS needs to invoke military option to restore the elected government in Niger; otherwise, the regional body itself may cease to exist.
Sanni, who aligned with Lawal’s point of view, noted that African military officers who attend trainings in the United Kingdom and the United States are usually made to believe that they are future leaders of their countries. According to him, “most coup plotters do so to protect their interest or a particular political class, and sometimes for public interest. ECOWAS should go ahead with the military option.”
But Dr. Segun Bolarinwa, a research fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, took another radical position, similar to that of Prof. Oluwatoki. He insisted that ECOWAS has no right to invade the sovereign state of Niger, as only the United Nations Security Council can do that when and where necessary. Bolarinwa who decried the influence and interest of foreign powers like France, Russia, and others in Niger, said Nigeria is not prepared for any war as some people who align with President Tinubu believe. “We should apply diplomacy and tread with caution. We have no legal backing besides, our military are overstretched, we have internal crisis to contend with,” he warned.
Henry Ogunjewo, a don at the Department of History and Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, bemoaned what he called civilian coup in the form of executive, legislative and judicial rascality that have been ravaging Nigeria and the continent at large, warning that they should be a source of worry. A similar view was shared by Wasiu Balogun, another don at LASU, who affirmed that “the essence of governance is people. Sadly we have a region of political elite-centred governments, which makes them complicit in what is happening in Africa.
Ogunjewo stressed that “Democracy is good for the entire world, but who says Africa needs democracy? Who said this coup is different from others? There have been five coups in the region before this. Everything is a struggle for power. Not in the interest of the masses.”
Former vice-chancellor of the university, Prof. Adewale Noah, while analyzing leadership deficit and the excruciating pain and poverty that are ravaging Africa, expressed the fear that some other countries in the sub-region may be the next target of coup plotters with the unprecedented and pervasive poverty in the land. He chronicled the historical links between Nigeria and Niger Republic and concluded that Nigeria has no need to declare a war against the country.
Another expert in international law, Dr. Remi Britto, canvassed the view that military intervention should not be condoned and that ECOWAS should march on Niger to force the junta to retrace their steps.
The gathering, according to Falode, was aimed at examining all the issues about the coup and examining them from multiple dimensions; and to present informed and researched views to the people.