{"id":19270,"date":"2024-04-20T20:47:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T17:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=19270"},"modified":"2024-04-20T20:47:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T17:47:48","slug":"what-turmoil-in-ecowas-means-for-nigeria-and-regional-stability-2-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/20\/what-turmoil-in-ecowas-means-for-nigeria-and-regional-stability-2-9\/","title":{"rendered":"What Turmoil in Ecowas Means for Nigeria and Regional Stability (2-9)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nnamdi Obasi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senior Adviser, Nigeria<\/p>\n

Secondly, the Sahelian states accused ECOWAS of failing to assist them in their \u201cexistential fight against terrorism and insecurity\u201d, a reference to their struggles to defeat jihadists that have resulted in thousands of civilians and combatants killed, as well as over two million displaced. Thirdly, they lamented that when their embattled countries \u201cdecided to take their destiny into their own hands, ECOWAS adopted an irrational and unacceptable posture in imposing illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions in violation of its own texts\u201d. Finally, they charged that the ECOWAS sanctions had \u201cfurther weakened populations already bruised by years of violence\u201d.
\nThe announcement of [Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger\u2019s] withdrawal from ECOWAS … could have far-reaching diplomatic, security and economic consequences.
\nThe announcement of the three countries\u2019 withdrawal from ECOWAS, an unprecedented event that could have far-reaching diplomatic, security and economic consequences, sent shock waves through West Africa. It set back member states\u2019 efforts, spanning nearly five decades, at achieving an integrated regional market and collective economic development, as well as advancing democracy and good governance. It also jeopardised multilateral initiatives to tackle transnational security challenges, particularly jihadist insurgencies, banditry and organised crime. Furthermore, it deepened rifts between the bloc\u2019s Western-leaning elected governments (led by Nigeria, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and Ghana) and its four military-run countries. Of the latter, three (ie, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger \u2013 but not Guinea) have recently terminated their longstanding defence pacts with France and\/or scaled down security partnerships with the European Union and the U.S. These three countries have increasingly turned instead to Russia as their security partner of choice.
\nResponding to the withdrawal notice, ECOWAS lifted virtually all sanctions on the breakaway states on 24 February, urging them to return to the bloc and committing to dialogue as the path to resolving disagreements. It also entrusted three of its members \u2013 Benin, Togo and Sierra Leone \u2013 with responsibility for negotiating Bazoum\u2019s release from detention in Niamey. ECOWAS said it lifted the sanctions on humanitarian grounds \u2013 as Crisis Group had previously urged it to do. But the about-face was partly also a tacit acknowledgement that the Sahelian states\u2019 pullout had raised disconcerting questions about the bloc\u2019s future. The military authorities have paid little attention to these ECOWAS overtures \u2013 and there is no indication as yet that they are rethinking their decision to leave.
\nThese events are especially salient for Nigeria, which is the largest country in ECOWAS and the site of its headquarters. Many Nigerians, especially in the far northern states bordering Niger, who have commercial, cultural and even familial affinities with Niger, have welcomed the lifting of sanctions, which were hurting their livelihoods as well. But diplomats and analysts in Abuja have also quietly expressed concerns that the attempts to placate the generals may have set a dangerous precedent, weakening the bloc and adversely affecting Nigeria\u2019s position therein. Nigeria is heavily invested in ECOWAS. Along with Togo, Nigeria was the driving force behind the bloc\u2019s 1975 founding. (Both countries, incidentally, were then under military rule.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nnamdi Obasi Senior Adviser, Nigeria Secondly, the Sahelian states accused ECOWAS of failing to assist them in their \u201cexistential fight against terrorism and insecurity\u201d, a reference to their struggles to defeat jihadists that have resulted in thousands of civilians and combatants killed, as well as over two million displaced. Thirdly, they lamented that when their …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19272,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19270\/revisions\/19272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}