Grandstand. The leaders of the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are preparing to go to war against Niger, if the president, Mohamed Bazoum, deposed by a coup d’etat on July 26, n has not been reinstated.
We, the signatories of this platform, challenge the leaders of our countries, because we are against this initiative. It is dangerous for the population, for our economies and for our States. A conflagration in the area would be a mass suicide that absolutely cannot be allowed to happen.
All the ingredients for a confrontation of the whole region are in place. As ECOWAS threatens, the leaders of Burkina Faso and Mali, backed by Russia, have sided with their counterparts in Niger. Western countries firmly support the ousted president.
Today, Niger is undergoing very harsh sanctions from ECOWAS. Never had such extreme measures been taken against a Community country. The population is by far the main victim, even though the country is already very weakened by terrorism which has been thriving for ten years in the Sahel and is now spreading to coastal countries.
Do not resort to a remedy worse than the disease
Under these tragic conditions, to engage in a new military action which will oppose several armies on both sides, is to resort to a remedy worse than the disease. We cannot afford to inflict more suffering on the peoples of the region. Which would inevitably be the case if the military intervention of ECOWAS were to take place.
Even if, from the point of view of heads of state, military action is a just cause consisting in restoring President Bazoum to the head of state, is it therefore reasonable to expose the entire population to this end ? Certainly not. This is what the people we listen to in the streets think and what we read on social networks which today give the temperature of the majority opinion.
In the specific context of Niger, we ask the Heads of State to find, through negotiation, the solution most favorable to the interests of all Nigeriens and all Nigeriens, and by extension to the interests of the people of the ECOWAS countries.
An ECOWAS of peoples
This crisis in Niger should make it possible to change community rules. Yes, coups are bad for our countries. But we know all the causes and it is to them that we must attack. ECOWAS must strengthen its potential for action by equipping itself with solid legal and political instruments to prevent heads of state from abusing democratic rules and arrogating rights to continue in power, and sometimes even with a succession. dynastic. This is one of the root causes that lead to bad governance and lead to coups d’etat putting the whole region in danger.
We know that ECOWAS is already concerned about the stability of its members, which led it to adopt in 2001 the additional protocol on good governance and democracy. It is also with the same impetus that the project to limit presidential terms has been initiated since 2015. It is still ongoing.
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The organization must reinvent itself and become an ECOWAS of peoples, as it itself advocates. This is what will strengthen the sovereignty of peoples and their ability to decide independently on their future.
For now, and urgently, every effort must be made to get out of the infernal spiral that is pulling the region towards a conflagration. This is the hope of the people of the Economic Community of West African States, of which we speak.
Pierre S. Aadjete, author, specialist in political ethics, Canada; Gilles Amadou Acogny, entrepreneur, UK; Roseline C. Afolabi, retired civil servant, Haiti; Kossi Agbolo, conference interpreter, Nigeria; Kodzo Ahav, artist, Togo; Elom Ahavi, artist, Togo; Ricardo Aklesso Agouzou, President of the Flambeau du Peuple Movement, Togo; Bahia Hamadahe Ako, retired from national education, France; Kokou Philippe Amedoji, Togolese Diaspora SG, Belgium; Yao Paul Assogba, professor emeritus, Canada; Gnimdewa Atakpama, media and communication expert, political actor, Togo; Joel Atayi-Guedegbe, governance expert, Benin; Monzolouwe BE Atcholi Kao, Association of Victims of Torture, Togo; Francois Boko, consultant, lawyer, France; Tido Brassier, lawyer, France; Many Camara, professor, sociologist, France; Yoro Diakite, mathematics teacher, France; Cheick Oumar Diarrah, former Ambassador to the United States, Mali; Boubacar Boris Diopwriter, Senegal; Sheikh Hamala Diop, economist, interpreter, translator, Senegal; Dialo Diop, biologist, Senegal; Maktar Diouf, professor, economist, Senegal; El hajj Mohamed Madi Djabakate, political scientist, honorary president of the CGPDC, Togo; Laya Djonabaye, Diaspora Consultation Platform, Chad; Apollinaire Duicasse Gada, activist, HRM, Benin; Sokey Edorh, visual artist, Togo; Sheikh Fall, president of Africtivistes, democracy activist, Senegal; Tito Fernandes, retired teacher, Mozambique; Karl Gaba, general coordinator of the Togo Debout collective, France; Frederic Gakpara, author, artist and cultural promoter, Togo; Joel Guedegbe, governance expert, Benin; Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of the Republic, Mauritius; Marie-Anne GN Guessan, interpreter, Ivory Coast; Nalemane Moses Gomis, journalist, Nigeria; Girmay Haile, former UN Representative, Eritrea; Alexis Ihou, lawyer, France; Timothy John, conference interpreter, Nigeria; Alfonso Julio, freelance journalist, Benin; Abdou Khafor Kandji, collective Y’en a marre, Senegal; Clement Klutse, political actor, Germany; Matomswe Kouli, artist, Togo; Mamadou Koulibaly, university professor, Ivory Coast; David Kpelly, author, teacher, Mali; Koulsy Lamko, writer, Mexico; Amidou Lida, lawyer, Togo; Isabelle Luka, teacher, France; Beatrice Manigat, conference interpreter, Ghana; Bara Ndiaye, official within the Senegalese diaspora, France; Issac Ndiaye, professor of philosophy, Mali; Christopher Nelson, photojournalist, Nigeria; Bruno Charles Noukpo, journalist, Benin; Raphael Nyama Kpande-Adzare, lawyer, France; Victor Nzuzi Mbembe, NAD Coordinator, Democratic Republic of Congo; Madieye Mbodj, retired professor of literature, Senegal; Alexandre Nunez, data administrator, France; Nathaniel Olympio, political actor, Togo; Boni Richard Ouorou, political scientist, Canada; John Sylvanus Olympio, contractor, France; Abdourahamane Oumarou, President of the Union of Pan-Africanist Patriots (UNPP-Incin Africa), Niger; Sasso Pagnou, teacher-researcher, Togo; Maryse Quashie, ex-high school teacher, Togo; Rokia Sanogo, Professor of Pharmacy, Mali; Felwine Sarr, scholar, writer, Senegal; Emmanuelle Soji, journalist, Benin; Faustin Sanvi Sodji, entrepreneur, France; Yoporeka Somet, Professor of Philosophy and Egyptologist, Kenya; Comlan Hugues Sossoukpe, journalist, Benin; Comi Toulabor, former Research Director Sciences Po Bordeaux, France; Aminata Dramane Traore, writer, Mali; Jean-Norbert Vignode, associate researcher at Celfa, Bordeaux Montaigne University, France; Elom Vince, Togolese artist.