President Bola Tinubu-led Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been advised to continue to employ the instrumentality of diplomacy in resolving the coup crisis in Niger Republic.
The admonition came from a former chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Chief Hide Awe, who said military intervention would be counter-productive.
Awe who is the special adviser to the Ekiti State government on Political and Inter-party Affairs said tension is building and ECOWAS must be cautious.
He added that going deeper into the matter, it may be some western powers who are behind this.
“Russia and even China may be interested. The country is rich with uranium which I believe is even the cause of these problems, because the commodity is needed in Europe and it is in quantity in Niger Republic. In all, caution should be taken.
“I am not doubting the strength of the Nigerian Army, but you don’t just attack in another man’s soil, I know there is going to be some resistance, you go all out for diplomacy which can resolve issues. There is a build-up which you and I can’t see and the tension is high.
“The coup plotters have their reasons for staging a coup in Niger and when you look at the totality of problems in West Africa, you will know that our problem is not just that of military intervention.”
“Talk to the people in the streets of Niger Republic, do they even love the kind of government they have? They were even happy the civilian government in their country was toppled by the coupists, this was so because of inefficiency, corruption and lack of direction for the people on the part of the ousted government.
“So, when coup plotters take power, people will still believe that they came with a miracle but that miracle will not happen at the end of the day. But our president must be careful, because at the end of the day it is we Nigerians that will suffer if militarily we go into Niger. See the Russia/Ukraine war, people thought within a few weeks that Russia will overrun Ukraine but the war is running to a year now, what we are witnessing in Niger may not be the way we are looking at it,” he said.
On the support the military junta in Niger is receiving from Burkina Faso, Mali and others, Awe said, “It is because power was also seized in those countries and they have seen their colleagues doing the same in Niger.”
On the rejection of president Tinubu’s request for military action in Niger by the National Assembly, Awe said their resistance is reasonable because they know what is behind it. “Not that the president doesn’t know but as a leader, he must take action and part of it is issuance of threat,” he said.
Concerning the face-saving actions of the coup plotters, he said, “I learnt that a prime minister has been installed there, which I believe, if things continue like that very soon, they may organise an election and that will solve the problem.”