Following the withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three West African countries, from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as reported by Parallel Facts, the world-renowned investigative journalist David Hundeyin has remarked that Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu took eight months to destroy the regional bloc that West African countries spent 48 years building.
Recall that Tinubu, former Lagos governor, was indicted by the United States government for his role in an early 1990s drug trafficking case in Chicago.
Hundeyin, via a tweet, added that the withdrawal is a vote of no confidence in Nigeria, which is the power behind the economic community.
He said, “Let it be on record that a withdrawal from ECOWAS is a vote of no-confidence on Nigeria – the predominant power in ECOWAS, and its leader, who is the current ECOWAS chair.
It took West Africa 48 years to build ECOWAS. It took a drug dealer just 8 months to destroy it.
Congrats.”
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This departure deals a significant blow to the stability and cohesion of the West African region, which is already grappling with numerous challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, poverty, and migration.
ECOWAS, established in 1975 and comprising 15 member states, aims to foster economic collaboration, political discourse, and security within its membership.
It also holds the responsibility to intervene in cases of democratic infringements or human rights violations in the region.
Nonetheless, the three military regimes have grown increasingly discontented with ECOWAS’s perceived bias and intrusive measures.
Last year, they withdrew from the G5 Sahel, an international force established to combat Islamist extremists in the area, and formed their own coalition, named the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).