A PUERILE GAME OF PINS AND NEEDLES
A surge of state-sponsored stupidity recently shot through the illegal military junta in Niger Republic when it mouthed the outrageous allegation that Nigeria and a handful of other West African countries are marching in lockstep with France to sponsor terrorism in the country to destabilize it.
It is an astonishing allegation coming from a country whose parasitism rather than mutualism has been detrimental to Nigeria over the years.
The allegation can be understood in the Igbo proverb that explains the fate of the chicken, which farts and is then pursued by the ground. In 2023, Niger Republic joined West Africa’s ring of coup republics which already included Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. The coup plotters took over the government and imprisoned Mohammed Bazoum, the democratically elected but impossibly corrupt president of the country.
The coup in Niger, Nigeria’s closest geographical neighbor, was a devastating blow to the incipient presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu who had just become Nigeria’s president and chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). A democrat in his heart of hearts, the president was never going to be silent or passive about the illegal change of government.
Niger Republic and its renegade military junta is a classic example of the lizard which having just grown teeth is biting its owner hard. When he was president, Muhammadu Buhari ignored critical Nigerian infrastructure to build railways connecting his hometown, Daura, to Niger Republic.
Nigeria’s porous border with Niger has also complicated the insecurity the country is reeling from. Terrorists have continued to pour over the Nigeria-Niger border into Nigeria to destabilize the country. Yet, they have the cheeks to say that Nigeria is sponsoring terrorism in the country.
This allegation smacks of shameless ingratitude to say the least. It provides more evidence of how reckless military regimes are. It is understandable that Niger Republic resents its former colonial masters for the indescribable depredations that colonialism visited on the country. But why drag Nigeria which has been its greatest benefactor into its historical resentments just because the military wants to clap back at the country for its forceful denunciation of the military coup?
While Nigeria cannot actually ignore what is happening in Niger Republic as a destabilization of the country would put Nigeria and the entire West African sub-region in a lot of difficulty, it must now reassess its relationship with the landlocked and apparently ungrateful country. It is a matter of national pride for Nigeria to refuse to make sacrifices for the country or any other country that will mock her sensibilities especially through the leprous lever of an illegitimate government.
Nigeria’s image may be walking on crutches in the rest of the world. But in Africa and especially in the West African sub-region, Africa’s most populous democracy and economy has continued to play key roles as a stabilizing force. Were it not for Nigeria’s vital contributions to the economy and security of the sub-region, there is no doubt that the sub-region would be in far greater peril.
The outrageous allegations by the military junta in Niger which by all indications has failed, though not unexpectedly, to improve the lives of Nigeriens, again point to the grave folly of military intervention in government.
Military coups have never saved any country but have often succeeded to water the ground for long-term destabilization.
More than ever, it has become imperative that democracy be restored in Guinea, Burkina Faso, and especially in Niger Republic. There is no other option.
Ike Willie-Nwobu,
