Nigeria’s President Tinubu faces backlash over military intervention in Niger

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu is dealing with an enormous backlash at residence over his menace to make use of military pressure to reverse the coup in next-door neighbour Niger.

Local media report there was robust opposition to military intervention at a session of the higher chamber of parliament, the Senate, on Saturday, even if it’s managed by Mr Tinubu’s celebration.

This was particularly the case amongst lawmakers representing states alongside the greater than 1,500km (930 mile)-long border with Niger, however there has additionally been countrywide condemnation of the potential of warfare.

West African regional bloc Ecowas had set a deadline of Sunday for the junta to surrender energy – or face potential military motion.

The resolution was very a lot seen as Mr Tinubu’s as he’s Ecowas’ present chairman, and Nigeria is its most influential member.

Although the junta has defied the ultimatum, Ecowas didn’t reply by instantly sending troops. This got here as a aid to many Nigerians preferring a diplomatic decision to the disaster.

Some query whether or not a seven-day deadline was reasonable on condition that Nigeria and different international locations need to get parliamentary approval earlier than deploying the military.

Many persons are additionally appalled that electrical energy to Niger was lower on President Tinubu’s orders, inflicting blackouts in Niger’s capital, Niamey, and different cities.

Critics declare that that is in violation of a treaty that had enabled Nigeria to construct a dam on the River Niger, although Mr Tinubu’s supporters say the facility cuts are geared toward pressuring the junta handy again energy to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, with out military confrontation.

Nigeria and Niger share robust ethnic, financial and cultural ties and any military intervention towards Niger would have an effect on northern Nigeria, already dealing with critical safety challenges of its personal.

An influential group of Muslim clerics in northern Nigeria mentioned Mr Tinubu should not “rush into an avoidable conflict with a neighbour at the behest of global politicking”.

Mr Bazoum was a key ally of the West, permitting former colonial energy France and the US to maintain military bases in the nation to assist in the battle towards militant Islamists wreaking havoc throughout a lot of West Africa.

The military juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso have vowed to return to the defence of Niger’s coup leaders if Ecowas does use pressure, elevating the prospect of a significant regional battle.

All eyes at the moment are on Mr Tinubu who has been probably the most vocal in condemning coups in West Africa, and mentioned final month that Ecowas can’t be made up of “toothless bulldogs”.

“We must stand firm on democracy. There is no governance, freedom and rule of law without democracy. We will not accept coup after coup in West Africa again,” Mr Tinubu mentioned, shortly after taking the management of the regional physique.

Nigeria’s structure states that the president can’t deploy troops with out the approval of the National Assembly – made up of each the higher and decrease chambers of parliament.

It is unclear whether or not Mr Tinubu will get its assist, given the opposition he’s dealing with.

“Ecowas goofed, the Nigerian president also goofed,” mentioned Prof Khalifa Dikwa, an educational on the University of Maiduguri and a member of an influential group of elders in northern Nigeria.

In a cautious assertion after Saturday’s closed-door session, Senate chief Godswill Akpabio threw the ball into the courtroom of the Ecowas parliament, saying it ought to present “solutions to resolve this logjam as soon as possible”.

President Tinubu’s robust line towards coups may be rooted in his personal expertise. He was barely a yr in workplace as a lawmaker in the early 1990s earlier than elections had been annulled, parliament was dissolved and Gen Sani Abacha seized energy.

He joined the pro-democracy motion that campaigned for a return to civilian rule, placing him in the crosshairs of the military that pressured him into exile. He returned in 1998 after the dying of Gen Abacha, certainly one of Nigeria’s most brutal and corrupt military rulers.

But there’s a feeling amongst many Nigerians that Ecowas was too hasty in issuing an ultimatum to the junta, and President Tinubu had not given sufficient thought to the home implications of utilizing pressure.

“Niger was a continuation of the northern part of Nigeria until the Berlin Conference [of 1884-1885, when foreign powers created Africa’s current borders]. You expect the north to go to war against itself?” requested Prof Dikwa.

Unlike his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari, President Tinubu doesn’t have a military background and neither does his nationwide safety adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who’s a former policeman.

Ecowas military chiefs issued their very own assertion final week, saying they noticed military intervention very a lot as a “last resort”.

Critics say Mr Tinubu has a historical past of speeding to make huge selections, pointing to the truth that he used his first speech as president in May to announce the ending of a decades-long gasoline subsidy, in unscripted remarks which led to chaos.

Ecowas leaders will now maintain a summit in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Thursday to determine on the subsequent line of motion.

Although another West African international locations have promised to participate in any military intervention, it’s onerous to see them doing so with out Nigeria, if the National Assembly doesn’t give its backing.

Mr Tinubu wears two hats – that of Ecowas chairman and Nigeria’s president. The one necessitates performing in the regional curiosity and in defence of democracy, nevertheless it may show very expensive to the opposite hat.