Director of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Professor Kwesi Aning, has highlighted what he views as a significant threat to the stability of the remaining members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
During an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express, Professor Aning stressed the critical lack of understanding among ECOWAS states regarding the shifting dynamics in the sub-region, the expectations of their populations, and the constitutional challenges surrounding elections.
He specifically noted that three states—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—have indicated intentions to withdraw from the regional union, suggesting that they might navigate the changing dynamics successfully.
“The coastal states of ECOWAS were more willing to listen to their masters from outside the sub-region and listen to the bogus analysis from elsewhere that the terrorists were coming. Coming from where?” Professor Aning questioned, stressing the need for a more nuanced understanding of the situation.
Security Expert and Senior UN Mediation Advisor, Dr. Emmanuel Bombande, echoing Professor Aning’s sentiments, stressed that these states indeed harbor genuine intentions to break away from the regional union.
However, he proposed that preventive measures and diplomatic dialogues could potentially reverse these intentions.
Dr. Bombande pointed out a flaw in the strategies pursued by the coastal states, noting that they were primarily focused on preventing the southward spread of terrorism, rather than addressing the root causes of instability in the Sahel states.
“The intention is genuine because we saw it coming and the attitude of the rest of West Africa particularly the coastal states was to innovate the initiatives that would halt the spread of terrorism from coming southward.
“This simply means that as long as terrorism stayed in the Sahel states it was okay. I think those strategies were fundamentally flawed and that is the genesis of the conversation among the Sahel states who said to themselves “let’s see one another as people whose destinies must be taken by us because our counterparts in West Africa are abandoning us.””