Any possibility of ECOWAS military operation in Niger?

With reports of several countries which had announced they would make troops available to Ecowas in an event of a military intervention demobilising their troops in the interim. Has the option of putting boots on the ground in Niger been abandoned?

At the initial stage of the coup in Niger Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu must have seen a rare opportunity to assert himself at home and abroad facing a credibility crisis that seems to have cast a shadow on his government.

Failing in his bid to get his parliament to back the move and the African Union, it seems he has run out of steam making an about-face.

Now having to settle for other means to make the Junta in Niger bend using sanctions which hit the landlocked country hard.

However it is obvious domestic issues at home such as an ailing economy, post election court battles, rising insecurity and the need to steer Africa’s most populous country out of multidimensional poverty to prosperity are daunting enough for any leader.

Meeting in Nigeria

Of the Beninese contingent grouped in the north of the country and planned for the operation for example, only the command of the force remains, as if instructions had been given. Even if this is the case, ECOWAS has not yet said anything about any disengagement, with no summit of heads of state in sight in the immediate future.

Meanwhile, according to reports ECOWAS might be looking for the right formula to announce its backpedaling on the possible military option.

For Niger and supporters of getting rid of lapdogs of western imperialists it’s a welcome development and good riddance to bad rubbish. We only hope that Niger’s leadership will seize the opportunity to truly liberate its people and set an example for other African countries with the region who are still shackled by western imperialism.