A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has defended the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), saying the regional body is only trying to stop the spread of coups across the region.
Akinyemi said the regional body wasn’t dancing to the tune of France and Western countries in its efforts to resolve the political instability in Niger as speculated.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, the former minister said the West African bloc is not defending any French interest, saying it is only trying to protect its territory by drawing a line in Niger.
Recall that on July 26, the military toppled and detained President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup in the Niger Republic.
Since then, the regional body has tried restoring political stability in Niger, it has imposed several sanctions on the nation.
ECOWAS, at its last extraordinary summit on Niger in Abuja, Nigeria, last Thursday, ordered the deployment of its standby force to restore democracy in the West African nation. A development that has attracted several criticisms.
Speaking further, Akinyemi submitted that “The French have troops there (Niger), and those troops have to go because if they have been there and the terrorism activities in the Sahel whether in Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso have been there and yet the French troops have been there for 60 years you wonder, what have they been doing? They have been looking after France’s interests and not the interest of the Africans.
“So, the French troops deserve to go; I am not defending France at all. But as a scholar, I don’t see ECOWAS policies being in tandem with French policies. The French has its interest which is to protect its economic interest; ECOWAS’ interest was to regard the coup in Niger as a threat to their stability and safety in their own countries.
“They (ECOWAS) don’t want the spread of coups into their territories. That is why they felt they had to draw the line in Niger. So, that does not mean that ECOWAS is being tele-guided by France or that Nigeria is being tele-guided by France.”
