There is apparent division in the camp of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as one of his loyalists, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, has taken a dissenting voice over the proposed military intervention in Niger Republic.
In an essay entitled “ECOWAS versus Niger: who is fooling who?”, Fani-Kayode towed the popular line among Nigerians and condemned the proposal for violent force against the military junta.
He wrote: “Apart from our unalloyed loyalty and unflinching support and our commitment to assist him in weathering every storm and stabilising the country there is only one thing we owe the President and that is to always tell him the plain truth.
“Today that truth is that the pending attack on Niger Republic is unpopular at home and if unleashed, would be a monumental error.”
According to the former Minister of Aviation, Tinubu and Nigeria will be better off with the invasion so long as the lives of Nigerian troops and her resources are not in line.
He continued: “If ECOWAS must go into Niger in the name of wanting to restore constitutional order so be it but let them do so without any Nigerian troops.
“Let the French and their Franco-phone allies in our sub-region, with American intelligence and logistical support, do the job on their own and leave us out of it.
“It is only if our nation is attacked or our sovereignty violated that we should get into the fray.
“Outside of that and until then we should use only diplomatic means to settle the issue and not allow ourselves to be drawn into an unnecessary and bloody regional war the end of which no-one knows.
Fani-Kayode also called out President Alhassan Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire over his claims that the conflict is not between Nigeria and Niger but rather an ECOWAS versus Niger affair.
He said: “To the Ivory Coast’s President Alhassan Ouattara, who has said that this is not a Nigeria versus Niger conflict but rather an ECOWAS versus Niger one, I respectfully ask the following questions: who will contribute 90% of the troops and foot almost all the bills of this force? Is it not Nigeria?
“Whose military hardware and assets will be deployed, mobilised and utilised more than any other? Is it not Nigeria?
“Who shares her Northern border with Niger and whose northern civilian population are bound to suffer the most hardship, the greatest degree of collateral damage, the highest number of casualties and accommodate the highest number of displaced people and refugees? Is it not Nigeria?
“We have trod this path before and we know where it ends. We cannot be fooled again.
“If any force is deployed and Nigeria opts to participate, we will pay more than all the other ECOWAS nations put together in the loss of civilian and military lives & in blood & treasure.
“Apart from that the ECOWAS force and their military capability is nothing without Nigerian troops.
“To say that this would be an ECOWAS versus Niger war as opposed to a de facto Nigeria versus Niger one is misleading and disingenuous.
“Such a war would be fought, prosecuted and won by primarily Nigerian forces even though there may be a sprinkling of a few others just for show and for the record.
“All the sophistry, propaganda and delusion in the world cannot change that.”
He also regretted that if Nigeria gets involved militarily, it won’t just be a Nigeria versus Niger war but it would also end up being a Nigeria versus Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Wagner one.
“Worse still, involvement in such a military conflict may tear our country apart along ethnic, regional and religious lines. This must be avoided at all costs.
“To add to this complex mix, the wife of Gen. Abdourahman Tiani, the head of the military junta in Niger, is actually a Nigerian from Kangiwa in Kebbi state whilst his Emir, the Emir of Dosso in Niger, owes allegiance and pays homage to the Emir of Argungu in Nigeria!
“That is how connected our two countries are,” Fani-Kayode lamented.
He, therefore, outside of any diplomatic initiatives, urged the French to clean up their own self-inflicted mess and fight for their hegemonistic and parasitic neo-colonial interests and uranium supplies in Niger.
“Let us stay out of our beleaguered neighbour’s internal affairs,” he advised.
