On the ECOWAS rapprochement 

The action of Nigeria in reopening her land and air border with Niger Republic is a clear manifestation of the resolve of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to tackle diplomatically the impasse engulfing the regional body. It is a necessary addendum to the ECOWAS decision to lift sanctions on three member states, including Niger, which had overthrown civilian administrations to impose military rule.

The countries, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger had, in retaliation, pulled out of the body, citing alleged undermining of their peoples’ interest, among others. With current development, it is important for all stakeholders, including the protesting trio, to work towards re-unification, as the best way for all to achieve concrete development amid external interests seeking to pull the region apart. West African countries stand a much better chance of surviving global political and socio-economic intricacies, if they act in unity.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been in the thick diplomacy in relations to its member states. Spate of unconstitutional take-over of government in West Africa has compelled ECOWAS to impose sanctions on the erring countries, including their suspension from the activities of the regional body pending restoration of constitutionality.

From 2020 onwards, a number of coups took place in the sub-region. The Malian coup took place on August 18, 2020; Burkina Faso’s on September 30, 2020; and Guinea Conakry, on September 5, 2021. In the interlude, there have been changes of guard in the military leadership of some of the countries affected by coups.

However, on July 26, Niger military struck and overthrew the civilian regime of Mohamed Bazoum. The contagious nature of these events set off alarm bell in the sub-regional body that was primed to nip in the bud the coup fever to avoid a substantial democratic reversal in the region.

As a consequence, the body invoked sanctions on the Niger junta and followed with a seven-day ultimatum to revert to status quo ante failing which the body might militarily intervene. This action provoked a series of retaliatory measures from the military juntas in the Sahel States of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger which morphed into Alliance of Sahel States, and vowed to resist ECOWAS military adventure into their states. The countries have even taken a step further to announce that they were creating a confederation and could introduce a joint currency soon.

Nonetheless, in a dramatic turn of events last month, ECOWAS reversed course, rescinding its sanctions on the erring countries. Omar Touray, ECOWAS Commission’s chairman, who announced the lifting of the sanctions at the end of the Extraordinary Session of the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS member countries last month, said the decision was based on humanitarian considerations, the socio-economic impacts of the sanctions on Nigeriens and the security of the sub-region. In effect, the entire gamut of the sanctions is affected by the lifting of the sanctions, namely, travel ban on members of the military junta and their families; freezing of all financial transactions between ECOWAS states and Niger, including transactions relating to the bloc’s central bank and the unfreezing of all of Niger’s assets at EBID; suspension of sanctions on the election of Mali citizens to ECOWAS positions; lifting of sanctions on Guinea, inviting all four countries to attend technical consultative meetings of ECOWAS going forward; and suspension of the closure of borders, including land and air, between the Niger Republic and ECOWAS.

While expressing its concern over the socio-economic, political, security and humanitarian impacts of the decision, particularly on the citizens of the three countries and on regional integration process, ECOWAS also called on the exiting member states to reconsider their position in the light of what they stand to benefit from the regional body.

Even if the actions taken by ECOWAS are branded as afterthought, they are the appropriate thing to do. The turn of events ought to be obvious to any discerning observer of the developments in the sub-region.

In the wake of the impasse, many people had condemned the regional body’s resort to a hasty ultimatum including possible use of force, and saw it as rash and wrong-headed. Warning was equally sounded against African countries condescending to forces of imperialism in the region, namely, the United States and France among others. Indeed, many observers and commentators had urged ECOWAS to reverse course and find more diplomatic ways of managing political contradictions in the sub-region which go beyond coups to those engendered by inordinate ambition of incumbent civilian rulers to remain in power. These have been appropriately described as ‘civilian coup’.

Therefore, lifting sanctions on the member states and exploring diplomatic ways are proper channels of engagement. The bottom-line is that coup is central to this current conflict in the body. The sub-regional leadership must be courageous to address the egoistic idea of longevity in power through undermining tenure limits; and ECOWAS should promote good governance in the region.

In an era of regionalism, the consequence was quite obvious. West Africa’s solidarity intrinsic to the regional body was being undermined. The achievement of crisis management within the region was being negated, so was the future engagement in that respect. For intra-African affairs, dialogue is to be preferred to the use of force. The precarious security situation in the sub-region requires all hands to be on the deck. It is well that the ECOWAS sees and has restate​d the urgent need to expedite the operations of its standby force to fight against terrorism in the sub-region, including the elements of the Multinational Joint Task Force and the Accra initiative.

It should be noted that there are some scepticisms as to whether the three states that have called it quit would be persuaded by the gesture of ECOWAS on the question of sanctions to come back into the fold. Not a few observers believe that the juntas have moved on and might not be willing to come back to an organisation they consider to be of neo-colonial and self-serving leaders. Even though the viewpoint exists, ECOWAS has done the right thing by this rapprochement, and should be reciprocated by the exiting member-states in the broader interest of African solidarity.