Expectations of Nigerians as Tinubu leads ECOWAS

“Africa is the centre piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy.” This age-long adage or policy does not only exist in saying, but is expected to be fully practicalised by the nation often referred to as Big Brother of the African continent.

It is in this light that the election of the President of Nigeria, Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the 63rd Chairman of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) on July 10,2023 at Guinea Bissau was said not to be out of place.

At a time when the West African Coast or better still Sub-Saharan Africa is passing through a lot of challenges, ranging from political instability, overpopulation and poverty to mounting insecurity, the election of the country’s President as ECOWAS Chairman becomes expedient.

Founded on 28th May 1975 through the efforts of Nigeria’s then Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, these founding fathers envisaged a region where economic stability and political prosperity would reign supreme. But 48 years down the line, the story is not very different from what transpired in the 1960s and early 1970s.

The question now is what has gone wrong? A situation where in this 21st century, many West African countries are still experiencing military incursions into the political system of their government is, to say the least, abhorrent.

The worst democracy, they say, is still better than the best military rule. This has been proven over time. One now wonders the reason why some African countries such as Mali, Sudan and Burkina Faso, among others still fall prey to this ignoble trade of military coup d’etat .

That is the more reason why the acceptance speech of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu of Nigeria during his inauguration as the Chairman of ECOWAS has been described as apt and worthwhile by pundits and political watchers of a progressive West African subregion.

“I’m fully committed to deepening democracy and good governance in the region. We must strengthen our democratic institutions and ensure the respect for human rights and the rule of law.

“I will enhance engagements with the countries in transition to ensure their quick return to democratic rule,” President Tinubu said as he assumed office as the Chairman of ECOWAS few weeks ago.

It is therefore reassuring and promising to note that President Tinubu as the leader of the regional body still keeps tabs on the ideals of the founding fathers of ECOWAS.

In fact, his acceptance speech on assumption of office as ECOWAS Chairman leaves much to be desired. He was emphatic that the era of military coups is gone and as such it is no longer fashionable globally. And therefore West African subregion should not be an exception.

But the question is how would the Nigerian leader achieve this lofty idea when challenges such as poverty, underdevelopment, lack of standing army, among others still stare him and the regional body on the face.

A retrospect of the crisis in Liberia and Sierra Leone that necessitated the formation of ECOMOG by the then Military President of Nigeria, Gen Ibrahim Babangida and the economic sore it left behind is still very much with us today.

In short, considering the economic demand of such venture into the coffers of the body, which in most cases is majorly undertaken by the country of the chairman, one will not evisage such expedition, especially now that the daunting challenges of insurgency and inflation are staring the country on the face.

Our prayer therefore is that the resolution of ridding the Sub-Saharan Africa of military incursions in government should remain academic, as there should be no fresh coup-d’etat in the West African Coast.

Reason being that Nigeria and by extension West African subregion have enough socio-economic and even political challenges, not forgetting the dibilitating challenge of insurgency in the country.

It is on this note that we advise that while President Tinubu is defending his title as the Chairman of ECOWAS, he should not lose focus of the internal problems of Nigeria.

Africa as centre piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy, lofty idea as it is, should not emasculate the nation’s economy,  amounting to robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Charity should naturally begin at home, so everything humanly possible should be done to assuage these domestic problems first before any other matter.

As Nigerians continue to groan under the current impact of the oil subsidy removal and its attendant hyper-inflation, our expectation is that these domestic issues should be frontally tackled before any other external  matter should be considered.  And until this is done, posterity will not forgive us.