The reason why ECOWAS needs a special military force -Amb Sani During a special meeting on Tuesday, the presidents of Benin, Guinea Bissau, ...
The reason why ECOWAS needs a special military force -Amb Sani
During a special meeting on Tuesday, the presidents of Benin, Guinea Bissau, and the Republic of Niger, as well as the president of Nigeria who also serves as the president of the West African Union, Ecowas/Cedeo Bola Ahmad Tinubu, reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the sustainability of democracy in the region.
Here is the address made by Musa Nuhu Sani, the ambassador of Nigeria to ECOWAS, during a discussion that followed their meeting.
"Last week, the leaders of the ECOWAS countries met in Guinea-Bissau to discuss a variety of topics, including the UN's intention to withdraw its troops from Mali. Following the UN Security Council meeting, the authorities of Mali made this appeal after coming to this decision. The ECOWAS leaders decided during the conference that they would take the required steps before the withdrawal of the UN forces to ensure that there would be no vacuum in security. In order to assess the actions that ECOWAS should take at its next meeting, the group resolved that the new president of ECOWAS, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, meet with the presidents of Guinea Bissau and the Republic of Benin. This is a measure to fill the gap left by the departure of 12,000 United Nations soldiers from Mali. It is clear that despite the fact that the troops are still at work, security issues force their withdrawal in the absence of replacements. It is not a bad idea to replace them. As a result, the discussion from last week's meeting in Guinea Bissau served as the basis for today's meeting.
Do you believe that ECOWAS will be able to offer Mali the security that is required there, where many believe that French and UN soldiers have failed?
"What we are saying is that despite some people's understanding, the leaders will not be able to just fold their arms because, in terms of security, you always need to be ready anytime your neighbour has a problem. Additionally, ECOWAS has previously undertaken similar initiatives; if you recall, one of them was ECOMOG. when ECOMOG was established before NATO. At that time, ECOWAS dispatched soldiers to Liberia. Sayo, too. The first international organisation outside of NATO to dispatch soldiers abroad is ECOWAS. ECOWAS is a seasoned group. The ECOWAS army, which is comparable to the ECOMOG that was formerly in service, is another problem. The leaders are learning how to employ them by studying this.
"After suspending several nations from ECOWAS, they did not announce the lifting of the suspension to reinstate them, but they did say that a forum would be established to negotiate with the leaders. To communicate with them as Tinubu's envoy, the president nominated Patrice Talon of the Benin Republic.
Do you want to say that African nations are capable of defending themselves without assistance from other nations?
We can defend ourselves, of course. Without assistance from other nations, even here in Nigeria, we have been battling Boko Haram in the North-East for 12 years. They are arguing that since we already have this system in place, all that is left to figure out is how to collect the money to operate it from inside the house before leaving. However, we require it if we obtain it from there.
Two billion, five hundred million dollars is a large sum of money. Would you like it?
"The mechanism we use in this country, about which I'm going to tell you, was approved three years before the COVID outbreak, and the amount we want to collect is between $230 million and $300 million. About 8 UEMOA nations who utilise the CFA have pledged to raise 500 million dollars, Nigeria has pledged to provide 350 million dollars, and Ghana has pledged 50 million dollars, for a combined total of 9 million dollars. to initiate work. Even on the test, success is achieved with a 90 percent score.