Preventing coups not by threats, sanctions — Badejo

An international relations expert, Babafemi Badejo, says preventing coups in West Africa is not by sanctions and threats.

He said that it was by addressing leadership deficit and corruption, curtailing negative external pressures, as well as building credible institutions to provide for the needs of the people.

Badejo, former Head of Political Affairs, UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

According to him, diplomacy is superior to threats of the use of force that may be difficult or impossible to implement.

NAN reports that on July 26, President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger Republic, was ousted in a military coup.

The development in Niger is the seventh military takeover in West and Central Africa in less than three years.

Following the coup in Niger, Chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, called for an extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS Authority on July 30.

The ECOWAS Authority put some sanctions in place including the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger Republic.

The authority instituted an ECOWAS no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger and freezing of the country’s assets in ECOWAS states.

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Also, the authority issued an ultimatum, seeking the restoration of the overthrown order within seven days, and threatened the probable use of force for non-compliance.

Badejo, also, professor of Political Science and International Relations, Chrisland University, said the coup makers were consolidating and mobilising the populace toward an acceptance of the development.

The expert, who described the coup as an unfortunate development questioned the ultimatum issued by ECOWAS and if Nigeria was prepared to lead a process toward a truncated ECOWAS.

”Has the necessary resolution of the UN Security Council been sought with a certainty that there will be no veto making an ECOWAS war illegal as ECOWAS got stopped over Côte d’Ivoire?

“Has costs and benefits analysis been done by the Nigerian authorities for the short, medium, and long-term, especially under the current financial problems Nigeria is facing?

“Given the refusal to reimburse Nigeria’s efforts in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the past, is Nigeria able to fund a possible war with the Niger Republic as others in ECOWAS cajole her to lead, and as usual carry most, if not all of the yoke?” he asked.

Badejo also questioned how the ECOWAS leadership would close Niger’s borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, countries with sympathetic military regimes to those in power in Niger and the possible availability of counter air power instruments.

He also asked if Nigeria was acting swiftly to please external interests without a thoughtful consideration of the all-round implications for ECOWAS, Nigeria, and its people, if a Libya type internationalised war started next door.

NAN reports that in a recent joint statement, the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso said that “any military intervention against Niger will be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.”

They warned that such intervention would have disastrous consequences that could destabilise the region.