Vantage | Why West Africa is going soft on Niger's coup leaders

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional grouping of 15 countries; four of these members have been suspended in the last two years because of an epidemic of coups. The military has overthrown the elected government in four ECOWAS member states, namely Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In just the last three years, Mali has seen two coups, and so has Burkina Faso. Niger became the fourth coup-hit West African nation earlier this year. These overthrows have become a headache for the regional bloc. Niger seemed to be the last straw. ECOWAS was up in arms, literally! It issued an ultimatum. The group threatened a military intervention in Niger to ensure the return of the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, to power. The deadline was set for August, which came and went, with no military action. Instead, ECOWAS imposed economic sanctions on Niger planning to force out the junta with economic warfare instead. That hasn’t worked either so now, ECOWAS is softening its stance further. “I would like to reiterate the imperative of the region to continue to re-engage under military rule, and basis of realistic and short transition plans that can deliver democracy and good governance. No alternative. On our part, we should be prepared to provide them with technical and material support, to ensure the achievement of these strategic goals,” said the ECOWAS chairman, and Nigeria’s president Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu was one of the most adamant when it came to punishing the Niger junta. And now, he’s talking about re-engaging. During Sunday’s meeting, ECOWAS finally agreed to engage with the junta. This means two things: One, it has officially recognised it as the present government of Niger, and two, ECOWAS seems to have finally given up on returning the ousted Mohamed Bazoum to power. But that’s not all. To ensure Bazoum’s release and put in place a “short” timeline for the return of democracy, the ECOWAS is dangling both a carrot and a stick before the junta. If Niger releases Bazoum sanctions will be lifted, if not, they will continue. Also the threat of force will remain if Niger does not comply with the ECOWAS commission. Since ECOWAS hasn’t really done anything forceful yet, that threat may not really work. But the lifting of sanctions would help the people of Niger. The restrictions on trade have hurt the economy and ordinary people are paying the price. If the junta refuses to engage with ECOWAS, it could hurt their support. But are humanitarian considerations the only reason for ECOWAS softening its stance? Or is something else at play? “It is important that we also review some developments in our sub region, including the move by some of our members under military rule to float an alliance of sahel states,” said Bola Tinubu. Three of the coup-hit west african nations have formed an alliance — Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. They are working together to fight terrorism in the Sahel region. And reports say they have been making gains. Does ECOWAS want to stop the coup-hit nations from becoming successful on their own? Or does it want to stop them from inspiring similar coups in other West African Nations? Whatever the reason, ECOWAS seems to have come to the negotiating table and we’ll see if this helps in reversing the trend of coups in the region. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.