Politics

ECOWAS fears disintegration if junta-led states leave

Published

3 months ago

July 8, 2024

The junta-led governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have made it apparent they intended to leave the bloc by signing a confederation treaty, prompting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to warn on Sunday that the region risked disintegrating and experiencing increased insecurity.

Signed on Saturday, the Alliance of Sahel States treaty reaffirmed the three nations’ resolve to reject the 15-member ECOWAS, which has been pressuring them to revert to democratic governance.

The accord, reached during the inaugural meeting of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), signifies a closer alignment of the neighbors in the insurgent-torn central Sahel region. Through a series of coups, juntas in three states between 2020 and 2023 toppled their governments and severed diplomatic and military ties with Western countries and their regional allies.

Omar Touray, head of the ECOWAS commission, stated that some of the main advantages of the nearly 50-year-old bloc were freedom of movement and a 400 million-person common market, but that both would be jeopardized if the three countries quit.

Touray said during an ECOWAS summit in Abuja, Nigeria, that funding for economic projects in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger valued at more than $500 million might also be halted or suspended.

“Considering these benefits, disintegration will not only disrupt the freedom of movement and settlement of people, but it will also worsen insecurity in the region,” he stated.

He continued by saying that the three nations’ withdrawal would deal a serious blow to security cooperation, especially about intelligence sharing and involvement in the war on terror.

At the summit, leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened to deliberate on the ramifications of the treaty signed by the Alliance of Sahel States. The juntas that took over the three states in a succession of coups between 2020 and 2023 broke diplomatic and military connections with Western countries and regional allies.

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Politics

Nigerian Air Force adds 34 Italian planes, helicopters

Published

3 days ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s air force is acquiring 24 Italian-made M-346 attack jets and ten AW-109 Trekker helicopters as part of a fleet renewal strategy, a spokesperson said on Monday.

Air Force spokesperson, Olusola Akinboyewa, said in a statement that a team led by Nigeria’s Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar met with executives from Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A, the manufacturer, in Rome who confirmed the first three M-346 aircraft were expected to be delivered by early 2025, with subsequent deliveries running until mid-2026.

The Trekker helicopters are expected by early 2026, Akinboyewa said.

“The M-346 and Trekker acquisitions are key steps towards fleet renewal,” Abubakar was cited as saying, emphasizing the need for a maintenance hub in Nigeria to provide long-term support, particularly for the M-346 fleet.

Nigeria, which has been fighting a 15-year Islamist insurgency against Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the northeast, as well as attacks by armed bandits in the northwest, has increased military spending in recent years.

Nigeria received two “Huey” helicopters in June to go with the two Trekkers it had previously purchased and the twelve American-built A-29 Super Tucano light attack jets it had been given in 2021 to combat rebels.

Wing Loong II drones manufactured in China are still awaiting delivery.

Politics

Cameroon prohibits discussing 91-year-old President Biya’s health

Published

6 days ago

October 12, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to growing suspicion that 91-year-old President Paul Biya was ill, Cameroon has banned any talk regarding Biya’s health, according to a letter released by the interior ministry.

The reports that the president had been unwell were brushed off as “pure fantasy” by the administration, which released comments earlier this week stating that he was in good condition and on a private visit to Geneva.

Paul Atanga Nji, the interior minister, stated that talking about the president’s health was a matter of national security in a letter to regional governors dated October 9.

“Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to have any discussion about the president’s condition in the media going forward.” The whole weight of the law would be applied to offenders, Nji stated.

He gave the governors orders to form teams to keep an eye on social media and private media broadcasts.

If Biya passed away or was too sick to hold office, the oil- and cocoa-producing nation of Cameroon—which has only had two presidents since gaining independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s—would probably be faced with a difficult succession situation.

The National Communication Council, Cameroon’s media regulator, could not be reached for comment at this time. Many criticised the action as an example of state censorship.

“The president is elected by Cameroonians and it’s just normal that they worry about his whereabouts,” said Hycenth Chia, a Yaounde-based journalist and talk show host on privately owned television Canal2 International.

“We see liberal discussions on the health of Joe Biden and other world leaders, but here it is a taboo,” he told Reuters.

Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group for press freedom, expressed its deep concern.

“Trying to hide behind national security on such a major issue of national importance is outrageous,” said Angela Quintal, head of the CPJ’s Africa Program.

Since early September, when Biya attended a China-Africa summit in Beijing, she has not been sighted in public. His absence at a summit in France last weekend, which was scheduled, fuelled even more public speculation about his health.

President Biya is one of several long-serving African leaders, including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who has been in office since 1982, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame is also gradually evolving into the group.