The crisis in Niger, against the background of a coup d'Etat or let's put it this way, fomented by General Abdourahamane Tchiani and his men of the Presidential Guard has not finished arousing reactions and comments that could not be more divergent. However, he will have had the benefit of plunging the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) into great disarray, at the very moment when the sub-regional organization declared that it wanted to put an end to coups in West Africa by the voice of its new incumbent President, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria. And we simply have to hope that from this misfortune for Nigerien democracy, something good will come out of it for both Niger and ECOWAS.
After imposing draconian sanctions of all kinds on Niger, even threatening military intervention accompanied by an ultimatum, ECOWAS is currently facing growing and persistent discredit in the face of its inability to respect its own decisions and to implement them to respect or to be respected. A situation that ipso facto undermines the very existence of this institution vis-à-vis the nationals of its member countries and the leaders of the countries who contest its Authority. Especially since its weaknesses are their strengths.
For or against a military intervention: the question divides in West Africa. Between activists in favor of Russia and Wagner's mercenaries and their adversaries who oppose the danger of military dictatorships and the return in force of coups d'Etat in West Africa to the detriment of Democracy, each chapel has its arguments. And it's those who shout the loudest who tend to win out, at least for now, even if their actions are only superficial. The easy way out is to blame the West for all Africa's ills. By concealing the great irresponsibility and corruption of Africans themselves. Fake News and manipulation on social networks will have enabled those who claim to be true pan-Africans to gain ground with the complicity of soldiers who are more and more power-hungry in West Africa than anything else. Which take advantage of the geopolitical context where Africa itself is totally absent from the ambitions of the new Tsar of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and his henchmen of Wagner to continue to brace themselves on the discontent of some. A dissatisfaction that also does good business for Agents of Moscow in terms of cold hard cash to continue to supply the Fake News factories. But chasing France or all the Western countries from the African continent has nothing to do with pan-Africanism, and let's take it for granted, without concession. On the contrary, it is indeed the scam of the century under the guise of pan-Africanism.
Whatever the divergent and very clear-cut opinions on the question of the irruption of the military on the Nigerien political scene in Niger and in West Africa, there will be a before and an after coup d'Etat in Niger in within ECOWAS. The future of this institution will depend on what happens next. And one of two things: either it reforms from within, or it will perish altogether. Because, it will no longer be able to function as before. Nothing will ever be the same again. Are we witnessing the agony before the saving burst or final death? The days to come will tell us.
Looking closely, what is currently happening in West Africa goes beyond ECOWAS and fundamentally raises the same questions about the African Union (AU). The average citizen is therefore entitled to wonder what good these organizations are for if they are incapable of taking charge of themselves and contributing to living together or better living together in the spaces in which they are supposed to work for the benefit of the people. Or why before talking about the African Union for the whole of the African continent, Black Africa does not have its own organization, in particular the Union of Black African Countries or the League of Black African Countries. Like the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) for North Africa… Africa being, whether we like it or not, now plural for many millennia.
By Marcus Boni Teiga
