ECOWAS Blinked first!

ECOWAS Blinked first.

Among the greatest tragedies of Africa was the unwillingness of the post-colonial leaders to decolonize their countries, especially the educational system.

Apart from a few leaders like Nyerere and Nkrumah who remembered their Africanness and attempted to recreate an African civilizational space that the colonial interregnum interrupted, the rest of the lot were happy to inherit and continue the colonial imposition as faithful heirs of the colonial oppressors.

It remains a mystery why these leaders forgot to regard colonialism as an interregnum, a nasty interruption of the political cum socio-economic evolution of Africa. Unlike their counterparts in China, India, and Iran, post-independence African leaders got amnesiac and forgot both their history and, most importantly, their geography as they labored to build mini Europas in Africa. Few of them remember their culture and their traditions. Everything they did was to further alienate themselves and their people from their African heritage.

The tragic result is the vast wasteland we today see in Africa - a schizophrenic place where the native people have neither roots nor identity - easy prey to purveyors of every foreign idea and ideology.

Yes, culture is dynamic and every culture, as a necessity, must cross-breed with other cultures in other to maintain its vitality and remain relevant, but we have in Africa a people so enamored with foreign cultures up to the point of mental lunacy.

Just consider the average African Christian with his European counterpart or an African Moslem with his Arab coreligionist. And why not take a look at the African “Democrat” and try to fit him into a European setting?

The modern African is a walking manifestation of the saying: New Converts make the worst Zealots.

Today, the African is lost in a cultural miasma, unwilling to clearly define himself. On personal levels, this is tragic enough but transferred to the national level, it became the wholesome disasters we today witness all over the continent.

When political and economic leadership fails to clearly define itself, it becomes impossible to set and get priorities right - be it cultural, economic, or political. To have a vision, one must first define it. This failure lies at the heart of the unresolved problems of failed socio-economic development we see across Africa.

Kwame Nkrumah recognized this, hence his attempt to recreate the African Personality via his Ideological Institute at Winneba. The Iranians remembered their 4,000+ years old Persian roots and its glories, they took the best of the Arabic religion and blended it to suit their imperatives. The result is a country that rediscovered itself and has emerged as a strong global player despite all the attempts by the West to stifle its growth through sanctions. The Chinese did the same thing. Today, they dazzle the world with their ingenuities. In contrast, how many Yorubas know that they have a 13K years-old calendar?

Alas, Africa continues to stagger from one crisis to the other because those who charge themselves with managing affairs refuse to define themselves and properly articulate to their people the main purpose of their existence.

Until this question of IDENTITY is resolved, in vain shall Africa continue to grope for an elusive elixir. How do you solve a problem that you have not clearly defined?

We saw this leadership failure manifest itself in the humiliation of President Tinubu and his colleagues in ECOWAS over their hasty, ill-thought, ill-advised, and imbecilic handling of the problem with the three Sahelian countries.

Tinubu and co had their education in the West, tragically, they didn’t imbue themselves with the ethos, the logos, and the pathos of leadership of traditional Africa.

These leaders look up to the West for their political, socioeconomic, cultural, and ideological inspiration and sustenance. Were Tinubu and Nana Akufo-Addo to have drank from the wells of their African Elders, they wouldn’t have rushed so hastily into judgment and ended up being so thoroughly humiliated.

An African proverb admonishes: A Chief should desist from making new laws when he is angry.

Tinubu and co. got angry and they lashed out angrily. This might have worked in Europe or America, but an intelligent African leader would have known that our elders warned us against pressing the goat against the wall as it would bite back. Of course, goats do not bite; our Elders simply warned us not to try and humiliate our vanquished foes.

I wrote five articles to warn President Tinubu against his rash judgment on the three Sahelian countries, of course, he did not listen.

In Tinubu and Nana Akufo-Addo we have “African” leaders with European education and European mindsets, hence their inability to relate with their own culture.

Was it not said that the dog that will get lost will not listen to the hunter's whistle?

The military toppled the civilian governments in Burkina Faso in May 2021, Mali in September 2022, and Niger in July 2023, and probably afraid for their own skins, ECOWAS leaders rushed to impose stifling sanctions on them alongside Guinea, where the military had taken over in September 2021. in its rash actions, the organization suspended all commercial and financial transactions with them and froze all their assets at the ECOWAS Central Bank.

Many experts queried from where Tinubu and co derived their powers since there were no provisions for such measures in the ECOWAS Protocols.

When push came to shove, on January 28, the three nations announced their withdrawal from the ECOWAS, alleging that its “illegal sanctions” harm their people. They also claimed that ECOWAS has come under foreign influence. Although they did not mention names, France is a prime suspect. The three countries decided to leave ECOWAS immediately, instead of giving the required one-year notice.

A few days later, ECOWAS ignominiously caved in.

Announcing the climbdown, ECOWAS president Dr. Omar Alieu Touray tried to put a bold face on things: “The Authority resolved to lift with immediate effect the following measures imposed on the Republic of Niger: Closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger to be lifted, no-fly zone of all commercial flights to and from Niger is to be lifted and suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger is to be lifted.”

“The Authority also resolved that the “freezing of all service transactions, including utility services, is to be lifted. The freezing of assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central banks is to be lifted.

“Freezing of assets of Niger State and the state enterprises and parastatals in commercial banks is to be lifted.

“Suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development and BIRD, is to be lifted. Travel ban on the government officials and their family members is also to be lifted.”

The ECOWAS Commission chief rationalized the decision thusly: This decision is based on humanitarian considerations, especially as we are in the month of lent and as we prepare for the holy month of Ramadan.”

He continued, “The Authority has also resolved to lift the sanctions regarding the recruitment of Malian citizens in statutory and professional positions within ECOWAS. The Authority has also resolved to lift financial and economic sanctions on the Republic of Guinea.

“The Authority has also instructed the President of the Commission to invite Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and Guinea, to attend the technical and consultative meetings of ECOWAS as well as all security-related meetings.

“The Authority expresses its concern over the socio-economic, political, security, and humanitarian impact of the decision, particularly on the citizens of the three countries and on the regional integration process.

“The Authority further urges the three member states to resort to dialogue, negotiations, and mediation to address their concerns. The Authority urges the three member states to adhere to the provisions of the 1993 revised treaty relating to withdrawal, particularly Article 91.

“The Authority further instructs the commission to develop an effective communication strategy in engaging member states and the community citizens in view of the ongoing disinformation and misinformation that put ECOWAS in a bad light,” the ECOWAS Chief explained.

“The Authority also lifted sanctions on Guinea, inviting all four countries to attend technical consultative meetings of ECOWAS going forward.”

Although ECOWAS claimed that the sanctions relief was inspired by humanitarian considerations, there is no denying the fact that the main reason was the decision by the AES to quit ECOWAS, an act that sent shockwaves across the region.

The apparent French puppet, current Nigeria and ECOWAS president Bola Tinubu urged Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to “reconsider the decision” and said they should “not perceive our organization as the enemy”.

He did not tell how the three states should interpret ECOWAS' hostile and patently neocolonial stance. He also did not say why the organization which, since its inception in 1975, failed to connect the subregion with serviceable road and rail links to facilitate its main objective of economic integration, but was in a rush to act when French puppets were kicked out of power.

For their part, the AES stated that the lifting of sanctions comes too little too late. The interim leader of Burkina Faso’s transitional government, Ibrahim Traore, lambasted the organization and reminded its leaders that the decision of Nigeria to breach a Treaty and cut power to Niger resulted in countless and needless deaths of ordinary Nigeriens in hospitals.

Will Tinubu and Co find the wisdom to resolve the impasse?

Fẹ́mi Akọ́mọ‌láfẹ́
Farmer, Writer, Published Author, and Social Commentator

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