2024-01-03 12:15:57
Niamey (© 2023 Afriquinfos)- During the Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on December 10, 2023 in Abuja, the sub-regional organization opened the way for talks by announcing a reduction in its sanctions against Niger by conditioning to a “short transition” before a return of civilians to power. In the process, the Head of Togolese diplomacy, Robert Dussey, mandated by ECOWAS, went to Niamey where he declared having worked with the authorities and agreed on the content and timing of the transition. The Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs also announced that discussions would continue in early January to finalize this content.
In his speech to the Nation on December 18, marking the 65th anniversary of Niger’s accession to international sovereignty, the passage reserved by General Abdourahamane Tiani for regional organizations including ECOWAS does not bode well for easy talks. ‘’By deciding to impose unjustified, cynical, unfair, criminal, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions on us, ECOWAS and UEMOA thought they would bring us to our knees and bring us back into the fold of the fallen regime and France. These regional organizations did not know that they were facing a warrior people, descendants of great historical figures who forged the Nigerien Nation. Niger, our dear country, belongs to us and it is up to us to shape its destiny In Sha Allah. The time for negotiations and schemes in pharmacies is over. You now have before you a people who have taken their destiny into their own hands. We accept no blackmail, no intimidation, no prerequisites” he insisted.
The President of the National Council for the Protection of the Fatherland (CNSP), president of the transition in Niger, has in the same vein, announced the convening of a ‘’ Inclusive National Forum to diagnose the country’s situation arising from the poor governance of past regimes. He will propose necessary reforms for the future with a roadmap for the transition and a strategic action program for the rebuilding of the State. These meetings will soon be convened. did he declare.
Nowhere do we see ECOWAS associated with the development of this roadmap for the transition. However, a few days earlier, after an audience with Ali Lamine Zeine, the Nigerien Prime Minister, Robert Dussey, representative of President Faure Gnassingbé of Togo chosen, with the President of Sierra Leone, by the summit of Heads of State of ECOWAS, as mediators to help resolve the crisis in Niger, announced “progress”.
‘’We came to Niamey to meet the Nigerien Prime Minister. We should normally come with my counterpart from Sierra Leone, but unfortunately at the last minute a constraint prevented him from making the trip to Niamey”, the Togolese diplomat told the press, who stressed having had ‘A very enriching working session with the Prime Minister and my foreign affairs counterpart from Niger. We worked and agreed on the content of the timing of the transition”, he announced. And to continue: ‘‘this is progress, and we said to ourselves that we will come back here with our counterpart from Sierra Leone probably at the beginning of January to discuss the finalization of this content, precisely the timeline of the transition which is expected” said Robert Dussey.
It remains to be seen whether Niamey and Abuja are on the same page on the terms of their future negotiations. In the Nigerian capital on December 10, ECOWAS set as a condition for the start of discussions the release of the deposed President, Mohamed Bazoum, still detained with his family within the Presidency. ”Tiani is ready to discuss the duration of the transition and the situation of Mohamed Bazoum”, declared a Togolese source following the visit of the President of the CNSP to Lomé. In Abuja, at the opening of the summit, the president of the ECOWAS commission, Omar Touray further declared that “the military authorities in Niamey have unfortunately shown little remorse in clinging to their untenable positions, taking hostage not only President Bazoum, his family and members of his government, but also the Nigerien people”. The next negotiations between ECOWAS and the government of Niamey are likely to be epic.
Boniface T.
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