Almost a fortnight ago, the Pres­idential Guard took over power in the Sahel country of Niger deposing Muhammad Bazoum. This sparked a wave of anger worldwide, except the masses of that country. Our Africa Union and sub-regional body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have issued threats of reprisal.

The Western powers have also threatened sanctions if the deposed President was not reinstated. ECOWAS went further to give the military junta one week to restore democratic rule or face military action. Their ultimatum expired last Sunday.

But one question no one seems to ask is how come very recent military coups in the West Africa sub-region are happening in Francophone coun­tries? How many of us have averted our minds to this, and made any attempt to find out why?

Before I delve into that, let me address the ECOWAS posturing first. I am amazed at the people leading this Group. An ECOWAS that for over three decades of its establishment has done very little to take our nations out of poverty, political ineptitude, corrup­tion and integration cannot be taken seriously.

How does a serious group of people even consider to elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who just won a supposedly flawed election and was yet to name his cabinet, Chairman of ECOWAS? Are we bereft of serious thinking? An ECOWAS that turns the other way while despots in their midst flout their constitutions to perpetually remain in power is a threat to West Africa and the African continent.

They only find their voices when soldiers remove one of their colleagues as in the case of Niger. Most important­ly, their voices are loud because they each fear it could next be their turn. They only fight to protect their power. What they do not know is that nobody takes ECOWAS seriously anymore. Let them do a count and prove this asser­tion wrong.

I am not one to advocate for usurpation of the democratic process, though I support military in power anytime. But ECOWAS sending soldiers to Niger is laughable. How do they hope to execute this? If the masses of any country support their leaders, not even the might of the superpowers can defeat a determined people. If ECOWAS want to be foolhardy, let them try it. Whose interest are they seeking in this circumstance, anyway?

Already, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali have served notice that any for­eign attack in Niger will be considered an attack on their countries as well. Is ECOWAS pandering to Western inter­ests? Maybe.

Now, I have no sympathy for the French, though I abhor the assault on their embassy building in Niamey. France has always deluded itself into thinking that they could subjugate their former colonies for eternity, plun­dering their natural resources under the guise of armistice.

No former colonies can trade among themselves without the consent of Par­is. Not only that; every former colony is bound by French law to keep their foreign reserves in France’s Central Bank. They borrow from their own re­serves and pay the interest to France. Call it French hegemony if you may.

Niger has Gold, Coal, Oil, Iron Ore and Uranium. Indeed, Niger is the fourth world leader in Uranium extraction. Over a third of France’s en­ergy comes from Nigerien Uranium, yet the ordinary Nigerien lives below the poverty line. To protect their econom­ic interest the French have military bases in their former colonies. But for their former colonies, France would be the poorest country in Europe after Portugal.

At a point, every head of state of Francophone Africa was an automatic member of the French Parliament. But our African compatriots cannot be fooled anymore. They are no more the half-educated stooges with no intellec­tual capacity for discernment. These are intelligent people with solid edu­cation and now understand what their colonial Master has done to them.

Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and, now, Niger have “woken” up. Let no one think these young military officers are mere adventurists seeking atten­tion. They want to take control of their own natural resources for their people.

It is about time these Western powers and those still with a colonial mentally realised that Africa is no more the patch they met in Berlin and used a pencil to carve to themselves. Africa is no one’s backyard. We have been run roughshod over for long and we cannot take it anymore. And this is the message from the Sahel.

There are still Western stooges in power across the continent of Africa. They know themselves and they have been put on notice. We have them who betray their own ECOWAS and the Africa Union. They have been put on notice.

Our people have been enslaved, our resources pillaged, our women raped and killed in the name of colonisation. Even today, Africans suffer racial abuse all over the globe, yet our resources hold attraction to them. Sadly, there are myopic and self-seeking leaders who still pander to the whims of the imperial West. This is Africa’s dilemma.

What interest have America and the West got in the Sahel other than to steal the wealth of the people under the guise of curbing activities of jihad­ist movements? Let them tell us how the jihadists come about in the first place. There is a suspected deposit of materials used in the production of cal­ifornium. Californium is a nuclear ma­terial that costs $27million a gramme. Imagine how much a kilogramme will cost.

This explains Wagner mercenaries’ interest and Western opprobrium to the coup in Niger because only the United States and Russia produce cali­fornium. That is why the US and France did not coerce ECOWAS for military action in Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali because they hold not economic attraction to them.

Who are the West to determine standards of governance for the rest of the world? Even after almost 250 years of independence, the mighty United States of America is in a political tur­moil, divided right through the middle on Republican and Democratic lines. These are the people who preach de­mocracy to us who are barely 70 years into nationhood.

An Ewe proverb loosely translates says a bird destined for life never lacks feathers. Left alone, Africa has the ca­pacity to chart a way for economic and political development and progress. No one should stampede us to run their races; we have our own pace.

The so-called advanced countries that cannot protect their cyberspace are the ones setting standards for the rest of the world to live up to. It makes no sense. Haiti is burning in their own hemisphere but they are blind to that country, simply because Haiti does not have resources worth pillaging. Their attention is on Africa just because all natural resources imaginable are on the continent.

No country can claim to love Africa more than Africans themselves. If they so claim, the best they could do is leave Africa to chart its own path. They must respect us for who we are just as they want to be respected for who they are. Who is better equipped to run our lives but ourselves?

But as Africa begins to ask to be left alone, the continent must not let any other foreign elements take their place. That Burkina Faso, Mali and the Central African Republic have opened their doors to the Wagner mercenaries spells doom for those countries. Just like France and its allies, the Wagner Group must also be driven out of the continent. We cannot get one devil out and embrace a more devious one.

Let us do business with America and the West, Russia, China and all other nations, but none should be allowed to plunder our resources.

Back home, it is unnerving that Ghana has allowed a US military base on our soil. It is equally dangerous that the US military has an unfettered access to Terminal One of our Koto­ka International Airport, which by all intents and purposes is a security zone. Only God knows what these Yankees do in and out of our space. Would America allow this on their soil?

Personally, I don’t hate America and its people, even if Americans are the most ignorant and ill-informed people per capita worldwide. Anyone who has lived in the US knows this for a fact. It is their Rambo-style foreign policy that is a worldwide irritant.

Let Africa rise up against foreign military bases on the continent imme­diately. We have the capacity to be at peace with ourselves.

Writer’s email address:

akofa45@yahoo.com

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