ECOWAS Biggest Mistake Was Threatening Military Action Against Niger Republic Coup Leaders —Fani-Kayode

A former Minister of Aviation and a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode, has said that the threat of military action against the Niger Republic coup leaders by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was a terrible mistake.

Mr Fani-Kayode who stated this in a statement titled, “Niger Republic: A Word Of Caution To The Dogs Of War”, said that it would be inappropriate for Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, to be held responsible for the socioeconomic problems created in Niger Republic by France.

He added that it will be unjust for the Nigerian government to allow our military personnel to be used as tools to foster French maltreatment of African countries.

He said, “I am on record as saying that if Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali or ANY OTHER country attacks Nigeria, violates our territorial integrity, or attempts to take one inch of our nation, we must and will fight them to the last man.

“I have also said that Nigeria’s defence budget is FAR higher than all the other 14 countries in West Africa PUT TOGETHER, and that there is no nation in our sub-region that can defeat us in a military conflict despite our many challenges. I stand by these words.

“I am however constrained to add the following as a word of caution to those who seek to ‘cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war’ and as a piece of unsolicited advice to the advocates of military invasion.

“It would be imprudent and unwise for Nigeria to attempt to clean up France’s mess in Niger Republic. The French are the most rappacious, greedy, vicious, pervasive, destructive and unrelenting neo-colonial foreign power on the African continent.

“They have done nothing for Africa other than pillage, rape, undermine, plunder and take advantage of her. To deploy our military, go to war and allow Nigerian blood to be spilled just to help her to continue to gang rape the citizens of Niger Republic and subject them to slavery would be unjust, wicked, short-sighted, stupid and counter-productive.

“Worse still it would have implications for the stability of our nation, our entire sub-region and our increasingly-fruitful relationship with President Putin and the Russian Federation who are slowly emerging as Africa’s best friend and, together with the Chinese, appear to be the only foreign power that truly seeks to assist and support the growth and development of African countries.

“To those who believe that Nigeria ought to continue to be the poodle, local enforcer and hatchet man of the French, the Europeans, the British and the Americans in our sub-region, I ask the following: who do they think is behind Boko Haram and ISWAP and why did these so-called Western allies refuse to sell us arms to fight those two terrorist organisations until Trump came along? And of course since Trump left we have been given nothing.”

Fani-Kayode added that the western world want to fight a war against Nigeria’s African brothers, causing a cauldron of fire in the West and North African subregion.

They also want Northern Nigeria and the entire African Sahel region to be burned to ashes, similar to Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan, he said.

He continued: “We must never allow this to happen, and if the truth be told the biggest mistake that ECOWAS made in the first place was to threaten Niger Republic with military action if the coupists refused to step down and restore President Bazoum to power.

“I say this because once a threat is issued and it is not followed up with action, you look weak, ineffectual and pathetic. That is the quandary we are now in and the wisest thing to do at this point is to step back from the brink and rhetoric of war and engage in diplomacy.

“Deploying our troops into our neighbour’s country in an attempt to effect regime change on behalf of a bunch of power-obsessed feral psychopaths like the French whose primary dream and fantasy has always been the dismemberment, destabilisation and destruction of Nigeria is asinine and unacceptable.

“To do the dirty work for a nation that stood on the wrong side during our civil war and that almost pushed us into a war with the Cameroons over the Bakassi Peninsular is deeply insulting to our sensibilities.

“I do not support military governments and I cannot abide or stomach the way in which Niger Republic, Mali and Burkina Faso have threatened, insulted and made a mockery of our nation and people over the last few days, but one thing is clear : the military regimes in all of those three countries are wildly popular and the hatred for France in each of them is palpable and irreversible.

“Why should we get involved in all this? This is not our fight and if we choose to stand on the side of the French imperialists, neo-colonialists and oppressors against the will of the people of these three sovereign nations it may well result in chaos, mutiny, rebellion and a revolution in our own country. This must be avoided at all costs.

“It is time to get sense and sheath our swords. This whole thing is obviously a Western conspiracy and trap and we must ensure that our newly-elected president does not fall into it.

“This is the time for restraint and wise counsel to prevail. This is the time for us to put our national interest before that of any other. This is the time for us to indulge in some sober reflection and reject any gung-ho and bellicose action that would ultimately result in a reversal of the great strides that we have made as a nation over the last 24 years and the destruction of our great country.”