…Guinea-Bissau flouts ‘no-coup’ rule
Some time ago, many soldiers across West Africa were eager to participate in peacekeeping missions in any troubled part of the region.
For them, it was an honour and a great boost to their military career.
That was in the heyday of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), a multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to carry out intervention operations in countries experiencing conflict.
With an initial 4000 troops, mainly from Nigeria, the group restored peace in all the troubled zones of the region then.
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From Liberia, in 1990, Seirra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, and others, the troop delivered for the region.
At some point in the 80s, the regional force was so popular with its peacekeeping missions that a branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Nigeria, nicknamed its branch – “ECOMOG.”
Some young people, business districts and even estates still bear ECOMOG as nickname till date.
That was the kind of popularity the regional force commanded then.
While the above is unarguably the biggest feat of ECOWAS, the sub-regional bloc seems to be losing control as some erring member states increasingly undermining its strength, threats and sanctions.
In a matter of two years, four of the 15 member states of the ECOWAS have embraced military rule.
Sadly, three of the four have exited the bloc.
Some security experts lamented that the sub-regional bloc was at its weakest point considering the withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, while the recent coup in Guinea-Bissau set the stage for the country’s exit.
They also think that the biggest threat to the bloc is the establishment of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) by the three countries that withdrew from the bloc.
“If the ECOWAS allows the Alliance of Sahel States to thrive, more countries are likely going to withdraw from the bloc and join them,” Lartey Agaye, a Ghanaian-born security expert, said.
He argued that if the Alliance of Sahel States is able to protect people in its carved zone from insurgency, attacks, banditry and terrorism, the weak neighbours will join for safety’s sake.
“ECOWAS leaders know this, but are encumbered by leadership tussle, influence of former colonial masters and weak economies.
“Nigeria used to carry the entire burden of ECOWAS, but it is battling threatening internal security challenges and also does not have free money to throw about again.
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“Then, other countries that are buoyant like Senegal or Ghana should assume that role to keep ECOWAS intact, else there will be no regional bloc in the next five years,” he said.
With a weak ECOWAS, Bem Hembafan, a retired senior security officer, decried that things have really fallen apart.
“If it was when ECOWAS was truly in charge, it would have sent ECOMOG to teach those military boys, who are making noise in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, big lessons,” Hembafan said.
According to him, ECOMOG was well-funded then, it had support of all member states and also backing of the international community, hence it was very efficient.
“It was the internal politics of ECOWAS leadership, poor funding and the scramble for control of the region by France, Russia, China and the US that combined to weaken ECOWAS and its once-feared military arm,” he said.
For Moses Lawal, public affairs commentator, ECOWAS needs Nigeria to regain its influence.
“ECOWAS’ influence is fast waning in the sustenance of democracy in the sub-region,” he observed.
He hinged this on the rising cases of successful coups in West Africa, particularly the Francophone countries of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau.
“However, rather than agreeing to ECOWAS losing its usefulness, I will rather prefer to say it is losing its leverage in fostering democracy or political stability,” Lawal said.
He posited that the popularity of coups across Francophone West Africa is primarily owing to three factors. According to him, strong resentment to hitherto France’s subtle neocolonialism is fueling citizens’ embrace of military intervention in governance.
Lawal added that on the back of that resentment are unpopular leaders/presidents strongly seen as puppets to the French.
“Nigeria’s internal security issue has strongly affected her ability to provide the traditional military leadership needed to either browbeat mutinous soldiers, or actively give the bite if need be. Nigeria did it for Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia,” Lawal said.
He strongly believes that when Nigeria sorts out her internal security issues, she will be able to provide the military might necessary to sustain democracy in the subregion.
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“ECOWAS without Nigeria in her ‘military full form’ is like the present Super Eagles team without Victor Osimhen in their last match.
With Osimhen taken off the field, the Eagles were left wobbling, fumbling, and tumbling,” Lawal added.
But Sam Onikoyi, a Brussels-based Nigerian academic, decried that the biggest threat to ECOWAS now is the seeming romance of the Alliance of Sahel States by Ghana, of all countries.
“I am aware that Ghana appointed a former national security chief as envoy to the Alliance of Sahel States, despite its huge stake in ECOWAS.
“No matter the rationale, such as mending ties with the three military-led nations, for me, it is a wrong move. Ghana should even be suspended because ECOWAS did not sanction that. This the division that will finally break ECOWAS if nothing happens now,” he warned.
In his defence, Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, a Ghanaian-born security consultant, insisted the AES envoy appointment signalled Ghana’s willingness to improve its relationship with the junta-led countries in the region and also an attempt to rebuild trust and start the process of reengagement and the return of the AES to the Ecowas family.
But Hembafan and Onikoyi disagreed, saying that what they see is lure and likeness that will eventually make Ghana to join the AES.
“It is only in West Africa, which is older than other blocs that this can happen. “The Eastern and Southern African regional blocs are very strong, peaceful and prosperous.
“Let’s learn from them, fight together and keep our region intact from foreign influences, which come with conditions,” Onikoyi said.
However, Agaye pleaded with the Nigerian government to wake up to its role, considering the many feats it has helped ECOWAS, which it hosts, to achieve in the past.
“The world looks up to Nigeria; we in West Africa also look up to Nigeria because it has the resources, population, military personnel and influence to get ECOWAS working again.
All I ask is for the Nigerian government to wake up; if terrorists invade Nigeria, no ECOWAS country is safe,” he concluded.
Sadly, the ECOWAS leadership has been passive to the threatening developments, amid promises of working to get the three countries back.
But the Alliance of Sahel States, for many, has come to stay while ECOWAS is still slumbering.
Read also: ECOWAS suspends Guinea-Bissau after military takeover
ECOWAS’ leaders seek action against threats to democracy
Following the growing number of coups across West Africa, leaders within the bloc are now pushing for initiatives seen at strengthening democratic principles across the subregion.
Rising from the ECOWAS Parliament to mark its 25th anniversary in Abuja, leaders across the sub-region called for collective action from member states to contain the prevailing threats to democracy and the rule of law in West Africa.
“We must therefore fight for democratic space, human rights and rule of law if we want our democracy to survive,” said Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS Commission, urging the parliament to commit to the fight for the survival of democracy in the sub-region.
Goodluck Jonathan, former president of Nigeria, said that democracy, though challenged, remained the most reliable foundation for sustainable development and peaceful coexistence.
“The future of our region will not survive in your free will. You must strive to strengthen the foundations of democracy in the sub-region. Our region must remain firm against unconstitutional treaties or governments,” Jonathan said.
The former Nigerian president urged the Parliament to make itself a strong voice for political stabilisation and for the principles enshrined in the ECOWAS protocols.
“In an era where democracy faces new threats, your role in promoting credible elections, good governance, and a peaceful resolution of disputes is more critical than ever,” he said.
Julius Bio, president of Sierra Leone and chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, noted that ECOWAS had persistently supported past peace-building efforts, regional cooperation, security, migration and human rights.
He said that Sierra Leone was a major beneficiary of the transformative impact of such past efforts by both the ECOWAS Commission and Parliament.
Read also: ECOWAS moves to fill key vacancies following Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso withdrawal
According to him, member states must rise up and take drastic action by fighting tooth and nail to arrest the current threats to democracy in the sub-region.
“As our region navigates complex security, economic, and political challenges, the role of this Parliament becomes even more interesting and complicated,” Yemi Osibanjo, former Nigerian vice president, said, urging the sub-region to take a stronger, more integrated, peaceful and collaborative approach to address to security and governance issues across West Africa.
But observers decried that governments in the sub-region have not been serious with ECOWAS, as decisions reached at most meeting, even emergency ones, are hardly implemented.
They think that the weakening of the sub-region will continue unless member states take decisive actions now.
