On Sunday, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Comrade Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani described Nigeria as a major loser due to the walk-out decision taken by Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS.
Rafisanjani, who stated this during an exclusive chat with the Nigerian Tribune, lamented that the decision taken by the three countries will negatively impact Nigeria’s leadership role in the subregion, the African continent, and the international scene, respectively.
He said, “What Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have done is a dangerous response to this ECOWAS, which does not seem to understand that it was time for them to actually begin engaging productively and positively with the military junta in those countries.
“Because you’re dealing with a situation where the populace supports the leadership they have now.
“So, you don’t have any moral ground to go start bombing or killing them. In fact, there’s nowhere in the ECOWAS protocol where they say you should go and start attacking any independent country for that matter.
“I think Nigeria is the greatest loser in the walkout of ECOWAS because Nigeria needs the support of these West African countries for its regional leadership.
“Nigeria has failed loosely in terms of creating a better way forward without being dogmatic in its own position.
“You do not need to be that strict for an issue that you do not have any legal or constitutional binding to push those people out.
“All you need to do is engage them to ensure that the return of the civilian regime is worked out as soon as possible; otherwise, you’re just engaging in a lost battle now that they have walked out.
“It is Nigeria who will largely lose because we need them at the regional – Africa level and the international level to support Nigeria in its leadership position.
“Nigeria is looking forward to being a member in the Security Council; you need countries to support you.
“You need the support of your very neighbour who is supposed to give you that very support, and you’re in this kind of relationship with them. Then definitely, you are losing.
“So, they have found out that they don’t need a coward to survive, and they have been out of ECOWAS for several months, and life goes on there; their condition has not worsened without ECOWAS.
“So, they can as well get out of that union, that marriage of inconvenience because ECOWAS has not helped them in terms of dealing with poverty, insecurity, or infrastructure.
“So, therefore, they did not see value or any need to remain in ECOWAS. I think ECOWAS and the Nigerian government have overplayed this, and they are now the losers, sadly,” Rafisanjani noted.