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Opinions of Sunday, 27 August 2023

Columnist: Rockson Adofo

Why this fuss about the deliberative or possible ECOWAS military intervention in Niger?

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I am at this stage not convinced about whether or not, the Economic Community of West African States should carry out their threat of military intervention in Niger to reverse the coup d’état that has recently taken place in that landlocked desert country.

Therefore, the expressions of views by many a Ghanaian or West African, deploring any threatened military intervention by ECOWAS to flush out the Nigerien military junta, are at the moment, of no significance to me until certain factors have been examined and addressed.

Firstly, is there any approved protocol or treaty by ECOWAS to intervene militarily in a member state’s country to restore democracy when the military in that country ousts the democratically-elected government in the country? If yes, why are people arguing against the enforcement of any such protocol or law?

Do we expect laws made for the good of countries and their people to work as formulated? If yes, will the laws work as expected if their implementations are not enforced but thwarted? No.

What then is wrong about the ECOWAS enforcing the generally-accepted binding laws or protocols, if there are any, with regard to their rumored intention to intervene militarily in Niger?

On the other hand, if there are no agreed laws or protocols on ECOWAS military interventions in member states’ internal affairs, whether to chase out a military junta or to prop up a corrupt, incompetent, clueless, or puppet president who is democratically elected, then any such interventions must not be tolerated but condemned.

Assuming without admitting that there is an ECOWAS agreed policy to dispatch the block’s military to oust a military junta in a member state, why did ECOWAS not execute that policy on Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mali, when their democratically-elected governments were overthrown by their military?

Is it just that the military taking over the administrations of those countries were/are too strong for the ECOWAS force while they see those of Niger as softies hence resolutely determined to march on the Nigerien junta?

Are the ECOWAS morally right to intervene to restore the deposed Nigerien president even if, he was corrupt, incompetent, and a Western-world-imposed puppet presiding over the open but callous exploitation of Niger by the Western countries, principally, France and the United States of America?

Secondly, are the ECOWAS not themselves the cause of the military coups that are taking place within some member-states by their inability and failure to stop the presidents or leaders of member-states from amending national constitutions to increase their term limits?

By such leaders choosing to amend the constitution in their favor to be able to stay longer in power than their usual two-term limits, while obviously being corrupt, incompetent, visionless and bad managers of the economy, there will surely be military usurpations.

Coup d’états are at times necessary evils. They will be welcomed with public applause when seen to have come at the right time to save the nation from the hands of a conspicuously corrupt, incompetent, visionless, and lawless leader.

If the ECOWAS are enforcing their law regarding their abhorrence to military seizures of power in member-states, then they had better go for it, regardless of any condemnations from any quarters or whoever.

Laws are legally binding. Laws are made to be respected!

Nevertheless, if ECOWAS are being partial in the application of their laws, then they had better not dare intervene militarily in Niger.

I am currently in two minds and until that has been addressed, I will neither support, nor condemn, any ECOWAS military intervention in Niger against the military junta.

“The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Treaty is a multilateral agreement signed by the member states that made up the Economic Community of West African States. The initial treaty was signed by the Heads of States and Governments of the then 16 member states in 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria”.

Finally, could anyone point me to any multilaterally-signed interventionist agreement by ECOWAS on moving the block’s military against any internal affairs aspect of a member-state?