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West African leaders came together for an emergency summit on the coup in Niger yesterday (Thursday), as the new military rulers of the country have defied an ultimatum. ECOWAS has issued an ultimatum to restore the elected president and a new government
West African leaders came together for an emergency summit on the coup in Niger yesterday (Thursday) , as the new military rulers of the country have defied an ultimatum. ECOWAS has issued an ultimatum to restore the elected president and a new government. ECOWAS has considerably changed its earlier stand and is now seeking a diplomatic solution and yet has not ruled out military intervention if diplomatic efforts fail.
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The West African Economic Bloc members, meeting at Nigeria’s capital Abuja, are struggling to find a way for averting the periodic coup that is taking place in the Sahel region. It is expected that the leaders may adopt a wait-and-watch policy before taking any harsh measures. An indication to this effect has been given by the European Commission the other day when it said that there was still room for negotiation to end the imbroglio in Niger, as reported by www.trendsnafrica.com. However, the group of ministers is expected to take some important decisions in this regard at the huddle. ECOWAS is a 15-nation group committed to the social, political, and economic- development of Western Africa.
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The military leaders named a new government, according to a decree read out on national television on Thursday (yesterday), which can be interpreted as a defiant stand. The decree said that Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine would lead the 21-member administration, with generals from the new military governing council heading the defense and interior ministries. Niger, is a fragile nation that ranks among the world’s poorest. Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries neighboring Niger, are ruled by military governments that seized power in coups. Both have supported the military government in Niger and said that an intervention would be a declaration of war on their countries.
Niger military leaders rejected the joint efforts of ECOWAS, the UN, and the African Union as the representatives of these organizations failed to meet the junta leaders. Political analysts say that the nomination of a new prime minister by the coup leaders earlier this week appeared to signal the start of a transition to a new government. In the meantime, a former emir of the Nigerian city of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi revealed that he had met with the coup leaders to help mediate the crisis. He claimed that he had spoken to coup leader General Abdourahamane Tiani and would deliver a “message” to Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu. though he was not an official government emissary. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is not the official emissary of Nigeria. Incidentally, Bola Tinubu is also the current President of ECOWAS.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/ecowas-meet-on-coming-thursday-to-firm-up-future-action-on-niger/
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres expressed his concern about the welfare of 63-year-old deposed president Bazoum, who has been detained by members of his presidential guard since July 26, and the deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living under. Sahel countries are facing a jihadist insurgency that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015. It is now getting spilled over to the Gulf of Guinea.
