The situation
In the early hours of Wednesday July 26, 2023, Nigér (pronounced nee-zhair) experienced a coup d'état during which President Mohamed Bazoum was detained by the country's presidential guard. Subsequently, General Abdourahamane Tchiani declared himself the leader of a new military junta. As part of their actions, the presidential guard forces closed the country's borders, suspended state institutions, and imposed a curfew. It wasn't much of a surprise to most of us, considering the incessant coups that have been happening across Africa of late, especially West Africa; notable among them are
• Mali (since August 2020)
• Sudan (since October 2021)
• Guinea (since September 2021)
• Chad (since April 2021)
• Burkina Faso (since January 2022)
• And most recently Niger (since July 2023)
The Black Eldorado
The African continent is by so many accounts the most blessed part of the world with abundant riches of all kinds: minimal instances of natural disasters, an abundance of human resources and a vast amount of higly fertile lands; for context, consider the visual data below:
Niger is one of the former colony of France, and today makes it 63 years since they got their independence (3rd of August, 1960), but until recently the French still controlled the nation in many ways. in 2022 alone, Niger delivered 2,975 tonnes of natural uranium, or 25.4 percent of the EU’s total supplies, most of which went to France according to report by Aljazeera.
France Gold Reserves was reported at $153.258 billion in May 2023 Source, this puts them as the 4th highest gold reserve in the world. Mali (one of the former colonies of France) has gold mines scattered all over the country and produced about 71 tonnes of gold in 2019 alone, but has no gold reserves. Guess how many gold mines France has... You can find out here
Why do these coups keep happening??
Before we can answer this question, let us go back in time, 1884 to be precise. This was when representatives from fourteen European countries and the United States convened with the aim of deliberating the control of Africa's resources, this would later come to be known as The Berlin Conference. During this conference, they discussed the partitioning of Africa and established guidelines for dividing its resources among the Western nations, often disregarding the interests of the African people. The major participants in this conference were France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal, while notably absent were any representatives from Africa itself(sad).
Things have changed since that time, we now have human rights, modernization, independent states, and widespread access to education and information, therefore the powers-that-be needed to device a much clever and effective means of still attaining their selfish interest (the plundering of African resources), therefore they invented a weapon unlike any other, a weapon so devastating and so effective that for years it has remained undetected and highly self-sustaining that it has even gone on to evolve roots that still serve the purposes of their masters either directly or indirectly. This weapon is none other than curroption, and it's roots are insecurity, media propaganda, religion, and widespread poverty. Most African leaders are some of (if not the most) corrupt individuals on the planet, with a pervasive greed that defies explanation!
So back to the initial question of why do these coups keep happening?
The answer is simple: Corruption!!!
The leaders of this coups may have used different languages and different words to state their reason for doing it, but their underlying reasons all point to the same culprit: Corruption of the ousted government, which compromised their ability to look out for the interest of the citzens. Like i always say, when a government is corrupt, then everything is for sell, including the soul of their nation!
The Intervention Plan
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the main regional body, has imposed sanctions and threatened to use force if soldiers fail to reinstate Bazoum to power by Sunday. ECOWAS, which is led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (who by the way still has a pending court case seeking to declare his government an illegitimate one as a result of glaring electoral malpractice during the February 2023 presidential election) has declared a zero-tolerance policy towards coups in the region after recent military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, and is taking a stern stance with Niger, emphasizing the need to demonstrate decisive action. Tiani, who has received support from the juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso, has vowed that his country will retaliate. In a televised speech on Wednesday evening, he expressed his determination and that of his people to fight for the true independence of Niger if ECOWAS persists with their actions.
Nigeria (not to be confused with Niger or Nigér) has cut power supply to it's neighbor Niger, in what seems to be the beginning of the end of all ties with the nation. Meanwhile, according to David Hundeyin, a renowned investigative journalist, claims to have gotten access to classified documents which indicates that the Nigerian military has been mobilized and may soon begin a joint offensive with other ECOWAS Nations in Niger, in an effort to restore the outed president back to power.
This could be met with powerful resistance from other Nations with vested interest to protect in Niger.
What This Means for Nigeria
Nigeria may be a millitary might and may have access to unlimited financial resources to oil it's engines of war compared to Niger who has a millitary power of less than 15,000 men strong and an economy less than the size of most states in Nigeria, but last i checked, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Italy and Russia have spoken against any military intervention in Niger, with the first 2 countries going as far as issuing a joint statement saying they will not hesitate to come to the aid of Niger if it is invaded.
Nigeria one of the most porous borders in the world, and as such is ill prepared for any form of armed conflict with its neighbors. Below are some images of such thousands of borders spread around the country:
My take on everything
I doubt that the President possesses the authority to take such action without the National Assembly's appropriation of funds, as it would be a costly endeavor, especially since one of the first move by the military would be an enforcement of a no fly zone in Niger. From what I gather through my research, Nigeria lacks the means and financial resources (unless funded by powers-that-be) to implement a no-fly zone in another country, given the scarcity and high cost of aviation fuel.
Also Nigeria has been battling with incessant insecurity for over ten (10) years now and still hasn't curbed it till date, farmers are facing unsafe access to their farms, contributing to high inflation caused by elevated food costs. Additionally, oil exports have been hindered by illegal oil theft within Nigerian waters. Currently tensions are high within the country as there's widespread poverty, hunger and high cost of living, and one of the Presidents responses to all this is that he inherited a chaotic situation from his predecessors. Going to war with other nations fighting for their freedom from post colonial oppression and control should be the least of his concerns right now. But what do i know, I'm just a nobody who can only rant on hive about my displeasure.
By the way, where is former president Buhari in all this?? I remember how he spent a lot of Nigeria's resources in building infrastructures and supporting the economy of Niger, as a result of his alleged ancestral ties to the country.
References:
Algeria warns against military intervention in Niger
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/recent-coups-west-central-africa-2023-07-26/
All images are hyperlinked with their sources
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My name is Edwin Ifeanyi Louis (eil7304) and I love to write about finance and investing, movies, technology, gaming, fiction and just about any topic that piques my interest on a Blockchain platform called Hive.
