Tema-Ghana, Aug. 23, CDA Consult – Ghana, as a senior state in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region, must provide leadership, support, and share experience with the ECOWAS Chairman, the Nigerian President, who is struggling to settle down.
“President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo must assume a leadership role in the ECOWAS engagement with the military leadership in Niger and provide direction to support the efforts of Nigeria.
“We cannot go to war against Niger; that is a recipe for disaster and the final stroke to disorganize the sub-regional body,” Mr. Abraham Koomson, Industrial Relations and Mediation Consultant, stated in Tema, which was monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema.
Mr. Koomson, who is also the Secretary-General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), noted that currently the sub-region is deepening the francophone and anglophone divide: “Anglophone West Africa must support francophone West Africa in their liberation from the shackles of French colonial rule”.
He warned that ECOWAS is at the point of disintegration due to the poor management of the military take-over in Niger.
“ECOWAS leaders immediate response closed any door for meaningful dialogue with the new military leadership, and the sub-regional body is still struggling to adopt proactive measures to re-open the door for peaceful engagement,” Mr. Koomson has stated.
Mr. Koomson noted that the subtle positions of Russia, France, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom seek to work for their individual countries interests to the disadvantage of West Africa.
He described military intervention as a declaration of war on a fellow African state: “How many lives do we want to lose to re-instate the disposed President of Niger?
The Industrial Relations and Mediation Consultant noted that the military leadership in Niger is ahead of ECOWAS with the release of a transitional timetable towards return to civilian rule; “if ECOWAS had been proactive, they would have negotiated for the short-term transition instead of the three-year term”.
He noted that there are two main problems military leaders face in the early days and sometimes weeks immediately after their take over – the first is the issue of legitimacy, and the second is the timetable for disengagement.
Mr. Koomson explained that ECOWAS should have taken advantage to get them to negotiate for legitimacy and then move on to develop the disengagement plan, but unfortunately, our leaders failed to act when the iron was hot and rather allowed the military leadership to settle down.
“The formation of a government with civilian involvement settles the legitimacy challenge, and the release of a three-year timetable also sets in motion the disintegration process,” Mr. Koomson noted.
Mr. Koomson therefore called on ECOWAS to backtrack, stop the warmongering posture, and appoint either President Akufo Addo of Ghana or any of the leadership from the francophone countries to lead a new negotiation based on the military leadership timetable.
“ECOWAS must engage on friendly terms with the military leadership for the survival of the sub-regional body, as the future generation will not forgive the current leadership if they take any military action against Niger that leads to the disintegration of the sub-regional body,” Mr. Koomson noted.
Mr. Koomson also appealed to the ECOWAS leadership to listen to the call from the majority of its citizens, including labour unions, academia, religious and traditional leaders, youth and women groups, politicians, and parliamentarians who are calling for dialogue instead of military intervention in Niger.
