We’ve all seen the terrible consequences inflicted across the world by the war between Russia and Ukraine, with over a million people fleeing Ukraine in fear for their lives at the start of the war in 2022. As the world is still grappling with the tragic aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, the last thing we want, especially in Africa, is another war right now, particularly on the motherland of all continents.

However, the threats made by the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) of employing military force to restore the president of Niger, should the coup leaders fail to do so before an ECOWAS-mandated deadline, may trigger just that. The fact that the newly instated president of ECOWAS, Bola Tinubu, is the same Tinubu elected earlier this year to the Nigerian presidency, any action taken by ECOWAS is likely to be seen as a personal attack on Niger by Nigeria.

There is no potential benefit for either country if Nigeria were to invade Niger Republic. The only motivation for President Tinubu to invade Niger is to send a strong warning to his own men in khaki against plotting a coup at home. He wants to use Niger as an example to send a message to any West Africa countries whose military personnel, emboldened by the success of Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali in toppling their elected governments, may be contemplating similar actions.

If Nigeria were to invade Niger Republic under the premise of restoring democratic leadership, then it must also simultaneously invade these three countries, given that their present governments, too, are unelected. The fact that so many African countries are opting to topple their governments in favour of military rule, even in this day and age, suggests that there is something fundamentally wrong at the root. That which we call ‘democracy’ in Africa is a ruse, causing national impoverishment rather than being the panacea to national development that the elite claim it to be.

The current assortment of political leaders have sought to be in power for the sole purposes of satisfying their own lust and those of their neocolonial masters. They demonstrate no interest in providing leadership for their people. Whilst they avail themselves of the fat of the land, most people on the African continent lack the necessities just to live. Many can’t even afford to feed themselves and their families, let alone acquire the luxuries enjoyed by the ruling castes.

The military takeover of Niger is about more than a simple change of leadership. It is born out of the decades of injustice inflicted on the people by their colonial master, France, who even now continues to exploit Niger and the other francophone countries. Despite the rampant poverty in these West African francophone countries, they still underwrite the French economy. Yet they are regarded as ‘poor’ and are compelled to serve the needs of the French government and its people.

We should not allow ourselves to be pawns in the hands of the Europeans and Americans who care only about their own gain. Not only do they not have the best interests of the Nigerien people at heart, they have no regard for them whatsoever. Their only concern is for the cut-price resources they can extort from the country, and, indeed, the whole continent.

_This_ is what needs to be addressed, rather than a confrontational military approach that will create unnecessary enmity between our peoples for many generations. If Africa’s political classes strived to provide excellent leadership for their people, no coups d’état would take place.

The fundamental issue here is that the current geographical boundaries across Africa do not represent the peoples therein. These borders are an artificial construct imposed by the colonial masters to be used as a weapon of conflict and ongoing oppression in Africa.

Four countries in West Africa have already experienced military takeover, and, with the current pressure-cooker situation, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the continent follows suit.

The recent coup in Mali led to a new constitutional referendum taking place, resulting in the rejection of the French language and adoption of 11 new official languages from the local people groups instead. This bold step is evidence that Mali should never have been amalgamated into a single country. Thus, the next step must be freedom for the major nationalities to form their own independent nations, deciding amongst themselves whether to form a confederation or remain independently sovereign.

There is historical precedent for this: Lichtenstein, a small European country with a population of only 39,000 in the 2021 census, are one of the most financially prosperous, with more registered companies than citizens. Diminutive size should not be a barrier to nations withdrawing themselves from the bigger conglomerations created by the colonial masters. Equally, there is no reason that peoples with similar values should not merge, thereby forming even stronger nations.

However, this must be done in line with the will of the people, not as the manipulation of the political class. Only when this is done, and the rule of law is allowed to thrive, will we have true democracy in Africa. Otherwise, we will be continuing to treat the symptoms whilst allowing the underlying problem to continue destroying the continent.

Whilst Nigeria and ECOWAS may feel obliged to intervene against the military coup in Niger, this will only exacerbate the animosity across the region. The Yoruba people must prevail on President Tinubu not to invade Niger Republic as the coup in that country has nothing to do with us. The onus ought now to rest on the West African Union, and indeed the entire African Union, to do the right thing, offering the Nigerien people the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they want to remain in this colonial arrangement or free themselves forever.