I believe that now the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has no choice but to strike hard at the soldiers who have just taken power in Niger and restore constitutional legality. This time it will have to go beyond simple sanctions which only affect the civilian populations that the putschists are still taking hostage. The credibility of our regional organization, the only one that functions more or less correctly on our continent, is at stake, and it is a question of stopping this epidemic of coups d'Etat that nothing justifies, if not the thirst for power of certain soldiers to whom the people have given arms to protect them. What is the legitimacy of the galonné who has just taken power in Niger to exercise it? What skill, what experience can he claim to lead his country. He was just responsible for ensuring the safety of the head of state. What legitimacy, competence, political experiences can those who now lead Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea claim? Their arguments to all these killers of democracy are the fight against insecurity, corruption, the modification of the Constitution to remain in power. And to season this sauce, we sprinkle it with a lot of anti-French sentiments, we pull out Russian flags from who knows where, and the poor people, brutalized by misery and illiteracy, see nothing but fire. And they don't bother to find original names for their juntas. CNSP. Does it remind you of anything? What has changed in Mali since the arrival of the bidasses in power? The country is plundered by the Russian mercenaries of Wagner, with the complicity of the new leaders to whom they leave a few crumbs that they will invest in France, Senegal and Ivory Coast. What about the fight against terrorism? People are still being massacred. What has changed in Burkina Faso since the arrival of the bidasses? Civilians are now being asked to provide security. And in Guinea? In all these countries freedoms and human rights have never been so violated. You will see that if we let the Nigerien military do it, soon they will announce a national consultation, the drafting of a new Constitution, and propose deadlines that will allow them to stay in power for at least three years. Time to loot what they can loot and build a few fortunes.
This coup in Niger is the fourth in less than three years in our ECOWAS region. There was close to being a fifth in Guinea Bissau. Why all these putsches in this region? Is it the poorest in Africa, the one where there is the most insecurity? We have to ask ourselves. And, apart from Guinea Bissau where the coup attempt failed, they all happened in French-speaking countries. We also wonder about this aspect. But I believe that there are all these coups d'etat mainly because there is no one to prevent them. And obviously, there is someone behind it who benefits greatly from it. As Laurent Gbagbo would say, we see the back of the swimmer. A swimmer who, to tell the truth, has never hidden his intentions. There was this video broadcast by the Russian group Wagner which clearly announced that Côte d'Ivoire was in its sights. After the abortive mutiny of the Wagner boss, it was announced that this group would now deploy in Africa, a continent too juicy for Russia to abandon. And we saw this boss of Wagner, who we thought was in disgrace, flaunting around the Russia-Africa summit that has just been held in Saint Petersburg. To have Ivory Coast is to touch the Holy Grail for this group. The Russians, let's not forget, are chess players. Before attacking the king, you must knock down all the pawns protecting him. One by one all our neighbors are falling. If the entire ECOWAS region does not want to end up drinking vodka tomorrow, it had better react now. Let us remember that at the time of the war in Liberia, ECOWAS had created a force, called ECOMOG, mainly composed of Nigerian soldiers, which had contributed to bringing peace to this country. The new president of the organization, the President of Nigeria had affirmed his firm will to fight against coups d'Etat during his election. Let him demonstrate it now.
By Venance Konan
*This article has been translated from French into English by Marcus Boni Teiga
