By Adama Gaye

For so long, ever since its inception, In May 28th, 1975, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has prided itself of being a values-based institution, whose leadership had been solidly built around the civilian pre-eminence over the military.

Now, we are facing the risk of witnessing the downfall of that decades-old tradition with Senegal, one of the community’s founding member-States, expected to designate the forthcoming head of the Commission that runs Ecowas, pushing to have one of its militaries as the first person in khaki as its topmost bureaucrat.

This would be an insult to the spirit that has governed it thus far in line with the philosophy that militaries should be subjected to the civilians in the power-sharing tacit and explicit understanding, not just at the national but international levels.

Witness even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato), the Transatlantic organization, created in 1949 by the West to stand as the military shield against its main communist nemesis of yesteryears, during the Cold War: it has been mainly headed by civilians, except during a very brief period at its first years of existence.

From the United Nations Organisation to The European Union, The Organization of African Unity (now the African Union), it is nearly impossible to find any political entity that is run by a military.

Having been asked by the Authority of Heads of State, the paramount body for Ecowas, to provide a President of its Commission, Senegal has strangely come up with the unheard of proposal to get a retired General to occupy the functions. No matter how competent or decent the anointed one, namely General Birame Diop, may be, allowing this move to proceed would be validating the death knell of the regional body.

Let us be crystal clear about this: whether the security threats may be suffocating the West African region and three of the former Ecowas States, now united under the Community of Sahelian States, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, withdrew from its membership, nothing can justify the digression from the running of Ecowas by a civilian at its helm.

A question sprang up: what will a General do if and when, under his watch at Ecowas, in case of a military coup?

On what moral grounds will he be qualified to reject it if it occurs like one of the many we have registered in West Africa, since 1963?

One can see from here how easy it would be for any practitioner of militaries -that intrusion of militaries in the political sphere- to rebut his reaction if he dares to denounce it.

Furthermore, in an age when foreign powers from the outside world, particularly France, but not limited to it, are trying to meddle into West Africa’s affairs with the view to exercising a remote neo-colonial control, one is legitimately pushed to believe that one of those intruders may be behind the bad idea of getting a military as the Ecowas Boss.

Despite the diplomatic efforts of Senegal to force the illegitimate candidacy of General Diop, not only the other member-States of Ecowas but the whole regional citizenry, starting with the intelligentsia, academics and journalists, must stand up against that drive.

Senegal doesn’t just betray the tenets of the community but it departs from its basic procedures considering that the selection of its top Executives, particularly the political appointees, should go through a vetting process from a group of selected candidates before one of them is chosen and validated by the Authority of Heads of States.

Having been present when Ecowas adopted the most important principles that govern its functionning, a passionate militant of panafricanism, sensing the risks to seeing Ecowas fall under the hands of a military who could be more loyal to dark forces, and aware that my country has not been wise in the management of its own internal affairs, I shout out loud, hereby, that I oppose the idea of permitting a military to direct for the first time Ecowas.

I call all West African leaders to oppose this project. Already in deep trouble, Ecowas will not survive from its advent.

Let us not allow Senegal to transpose its internal mess to the community level, thereby compounding the many challenges it has barely been able to survive from over the past few years.

Allowing Senegal, for whatever reasons, to end the tradition of not having Ecowas being run by a military would simply be a shameful betrayal of its ideals, the stabbing of its weakened status.

That would fast-track its descent down the drains, resulting from a cowardly silence from its ranks and files when it was assassinated.

I won’t be part of that, and I vouch that this is not in my name!

We must denounce what would amount to an upscaling ot the military laundering process now happening in some national politics to the regional, West African one.

Let us all reject it, firmly.

With General Gowon, the sole remaining founding father of Ecowas, at last year’s meeting to ponder on its 50th anniversary.

Adama Gaye, a Senegalese citizen living in exile, was the first Director of Communication of ECOWAS. He is the author of Tomorrow, The New Africa.