There’s a growing resentment of the President Bola Tinubu administration in Northern Nigeria due to the aggression he has shown towards Niger Republic coup leaders.
An indication of this emerged on Saturday when some residents of Kano took to the streets to kick against the use of force to resolve the Niger coup crisis.
The protesters who displayed Nigeria and Niger’s flags alongside placards, chanted “Nigeriens are our brothers, Nigeriens are also our family” and “Niger is ours, we don’t want war, war against Niger is injustice, a plot by the western forces.”
Although the protest did not last very long, it was a telling clue to the growing mindset of the north and a direct message to President Bola Tinubu that the North was losing patience with his administration.
It is also revealing that the Defence Headquarters issued a statement shooting down alleged calls for coup in Nigeria the night before the protest. The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau, said those calling for coup were “highly unpatriotic, wicked, and” attempting to distract the Armed Forces of Nigeria from performing its constitutional responsibilities.”
But a retired military general and now a frontline traditional title holder has told THE WHISTLER that Tinubu is fast losing northern support largely on account of his alleged “anti-people” policies which are impoverishing the people of the region.
Responding to a question on the statement coming from the Defence Headquarters, he said, “ the moment you start speculating, then there is smoke around the fire. It’s very sad, there are so many things the government is doing that are not people-friendly. So many. If you take the North which championed Tinubu’s election, more than 90 percent of the people are not happy with him now, particularly with this issue of Niger. You know Niger and northern Nigeria are the same. Ant it’s a wrong time for us to go and install democracy in another country when we have got our own peculiar problems.
“You find that because the president has not set up his cabinet properly to have advisers, that’s why he’s been ill-advised on so many things. “
Asked whether he’s aware of people who might be nursing thoughts of military comeback in Nigeria, he said, “It’s difficult to say. You can only analyze the variables in the country, the disaffection, even within the military. Then you can have a clear compass towards what is happening or what is going to happen. But there’s no certainty in the country now.”
On 26 July 2023, soldiers from Niger’s presidential guard deposed President Mohamed Bazoum and closed the country’s borders. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, wasted no time in issuing the Junta a seven-day ultimatum to re-instate Bazoum.
Nigeria also imposed economic sanctions which include cutting off electricity supply and closing of all land borders to Niger, among others. ECOWAS has also said it could consider military action if other options fail.
North Is Angry
Some prominent northerners who spoke to THE WHISTLER off-the-record are angry that Tinubu is spearheading a diplomatic and military aggression on a country considered as part of northern Nigeria.
Many of them said if Tinubu takes ECOWAS to war in Niger, it is a declaration of war against northern Nigeria because of the close affinity shared with the people of Niger where more than half of the country speak similar languages as those spoken in Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Yobe and Borno states.
Hamza al-Mustapha, a former military intelligence officer and a presidential candidate in Nigeria’s February 2023 election, criticized Tinubu in an interview he granted to Vision FM in Hausa. He said Tinubu made a mistake by his aggression against Niger, stressing he should have favoured diplomacy considering the relationship between the people of Niger Republic and Nigeria.He said northerners are the ones that would be victims of any ECOWAS military action in Niger.
The Northern Senators Forum (NSF) had also called on Tinubu to exhaust all diplomatic means in resolving the crisis in the West African country.
The forum warned that deploying Nigerian troops to Niger Republic will hurt northern states sharing borders with the country.
On Sunday, The Arewa Economic Forum said Nigerian traders are losing an average of N13 billion weekly due to border closure between Nigeria and Niger.
Chairman of the Forum, Ibrahim Dandakata, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, said the border closure has brought serious hardship on the people in the northern region as many perishable goods that are traded between both countries are getting spoilt by the day.
He said aside animals, goods brought into the country from Niger include onions, pepper and tomatoes, adding that if the sanctions continue, the people in Niger will suffer and Nigerians will be losing huge revenue to trade.
President Tinubu met with governors of states sharing border with Niger at the presidential villa on Sunday but resolutions of the meeting were not communicated.
Nigerians Against War
Many Nigerians have also spoken against going to war with Niger arguing it is not a priority for the country and citing its proximity to Nigeria.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, led by the Sultan of Sokoto and the Alumni Association of the National Institute, AANI, have all kicked against any military action against Niger.
President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, said ECOWAS is right to demand constitutional government in Niger, but urged Tinubu to dissuade the regional body from using military might to subdue the coup plotters.
He said, “They reasoned that it is wrong to change government by force. They are correct, but we also believe that shedding precious human blood is equally wrong. Two wrongs can never make a right.
“We are begging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to dissuade ECOWAS Heads of States to resist the temptation of going to war, against the coup plotters. We beg them to stop the imminent bloodshed that will trail the military intervention.
“We have wasted a lot of human blood in Africa. We have also wasted precious human lives in Nigeria and we cannot continue in this ugly fashion, for whatever reason.
“For now, we don’t know who is sponsoring the coup plotters. We equally do not know who is behind the decision of the ECOWAS Heads of States. This may be a story for another day.
Niger Junta Open To Dialogue
The leader of the military junta that overthrew the civilian government of Niger, General Tchiani has revealed that they are open to dialogue with ECOWAS and Nigeria.
He said it was painful to the coup leaders that ECOWAS Heads of State and Government leaders did not hear their side of the matter before issuing an ultimatum to them to quit office.
Speaking when he received Nigeria’s intervention team, comprising prominent Islamic scholars in the country in Niamey, the coup leader and the Nigerian team agreed to intensify the option of dialogue in resolving the political crisis in his country.
A statement by the leader of the Islamic Ulamma, Sheik Bala Lau, stated that General Tchiani, who accorded the team warm reception, welcomed their intervention.
According to the statement, the military leader said their doors are open to explore diplomacy and peace in resolving the matter.
He apologized for not receiving the General Abdulsalam Abubakar delegation sent by President Tinubu, saying they were angry about the ECOWAS ultimatum.
SOURCE: THE WHISTLER
