By Nengi GREEN
As the deadline for the military junta in Niger Republic to vacate power expired on Sunday, President Bola Tinubu has met with the governors that share common boundaries with the troubled country at the State House in Abuja.
The meeting is part of the consultations by the president on the situation in Niger and as chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Authority of Heads of State and Government.
The governors in attendance were those of Sokoto, Ahmad Aliyu, Umar Namadi, Jigawa, Mai-malam-Buni, Yobe, ldris Nasir, Kebbi and Dikko Radda, Katsina.
Last week, the regional body gave the junta seven days to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and restore democratic order.
While Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani-led junta has remained defiant, ECOWAS spearheaded by Nigeria also remains silent as to what should be its next line of action.
Stakeholders have cautioned President Bola Tinubu to tread softly in the use of force against Nigeria’s neighboring Niger.
A former military intelligence officer and Chief Executive Officer of Goldwater Consults, Captain Aliyu Babangida (retd.) had warned against any military action.
According to him, “Short of military misadventure, I do not know what the President wants to engage in. There are many ways to look at that situation, and none of it is in his favour. The first thing is we are looking at a francophone family quarrel.
“Regardless of his position as the President of Nigeria and Head of the Economic Community of West African States, you don’t match a francophone country with Anglophone troops. What happened to Vietnam? What happened to Cambodia? America decided to flex her muscles there and she was tumbled to the hilt. That is one thing.
“The second thing is that it is no news that our borders are porous ‘pro-max’. That is why all sorts are able to enter Nigeria, do what they like, and stroll out. These same people are the ones we had an engagement with and are helping us shelf off the activities of bandits from there. These people share 1,630 contiguous borders with us. To make matters worse, the borders are not really marked. If you have been to the border, you would know what I am talking about.”
