By Femi Fani-Kayode
A dear and respected friend of mine who was once our Ambassador to a European country, who has relatives and strong links in and with Niger Republic and who is well versed in security and intelligence matters, told me that up to 40 babies are dying each day in Niger as a consequence of our cutting off electricity supplies to them.
According to him, these babies die in hospitals and incubators across the
country as a consequence of the fact that there is no electricity supply and
there is no fuel to power their generators.
This was confirmed by one Dr. Abdoul Djibou, a Nigerien medical practitioner, in an interview with Newsonlineng.com. They wrote, “According to a source in Niger Republic, Dr. Abdoul Djibou, there have been reports from Dosso Regional Hospital and Cominak Hospital about the recent spike in infant mortality.
“According to him, over 40
babies die daily in Niger since the Nigerian government cut off electricity
supply to Niger and also closed its borders.
“It has affected hospital badly
as they’re unable to power their incubators and other life supporting equipment
to assist these babies.
“He also mentioned that the
closed borders have made it nearly impossible for hospitals to access petroleum
products especially diesel and petrol to power their plants and generators.
“This is aside the untold
hardships that the general populace is grasping with in Niger. “He has made a
passionate appeal for the Nigerian government to reconsider its decision even
though backed by the ECOWAS.
“He stressed the need for the
Nigerian government to remember that the people of Niger are more like an
extension of northern Nigeria. “In his opinion, he believed strongly that the
ongoing negotiations with the junta leaders will yield results and stressed the
need for the negotiations to be intensified instead of beating the drums of war
and upholding the current stiff sanctions that have now crippled the economy
and the health sector especially”
(Nigeronlineeng.com: Coup Sanctions On Niger Republic Causes Untold
Hardship/Starvation/Death).
I cannot possibly confirm the
veracity or accuracy of these assertions and reports but if they are anywhere
near the truth it is enough to prick anyone’s conscience.
Furthermore I doubt that our
President, being a humane, rational and reasonable leader, would have allowed
this to happen if he was aware of the harsh and cruel consequences of the “cut
off all electricity to Niger” policy and that is precisely why it is important
to bring it to his attention in this article.
Quite apart from that, according
to UNICEF, “more than two million children have been affected by the crisis and
are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance” and millions of dollars worth
of vaccines for polio and other dangerous diseases cannot be safely preserved or
stored due to power outages.
On its own part Africanews.com reports: “The U.N. is spending over 20 times more money than usual on fuelfor generators to keep millions of vaccines in Niger from spoiling due to incessant power cuts.
“The outages are the result of
severe economic and travel sanctions imposed by regional countries after
mutinous soldiers toppled the country’s President last month. Country
Representative for the United Nations Children's Fund in Niger, Stefano Savi,
said it has spent $200,000 powering generators to keep vaccines, including for
polio and rotavirus, across the country cold during the first three weeks of
August.
“That’s up from approximately
$10,000 a month previously and might soon run out of money, he said. Niger
relies on neighboring Nigeria for up to 90% of its power, but after soldiers
ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July, Nigeria cut off
part of its electricity supply as part of sanctions imposed by the West African
regional bloc, ECOWAS.
“The sanctions are taking a toll
on the population with the price of goods rising, residents unable to easily
access cash, and people living in the dark. “Now there are mounting concerns it
will gravely impact the health system, particularly the ability to keep some 28
million vaccine doses in the country cold.
“Although there were power cuts
before the sanctions, they usually lasted a few hours, but now the cuts are
much longer – sometimes up to 18 hours a day, said Savi. UNICEF only has enough
money until the end of August and is appealing to donors for emergency funds,
he said.”
How can we as a nation inflict
such damage and unleash such wickedness and misfortune on innocent people who
live just across the border from us and who are essentially our people too?
This is unacceptable and
especially so given the fact that we are not at war with Niger and the
overwhelming majority of our people regard them as our brothers.
This begs the question: Is this
the way to treat our African neighbours and brothers even whilst we lay claim
to seeking and preferring a diplomatic solution to the crisis? Methinks not!
If our claim and intention is to
better the life of these people by insisting that they must have a
democratically-elected government and by resisting a military one, is our
purpose truly served by killing the children of the very same people that we
claim we want to help?
Again does this murky and
murderous course serve our national and security interests and does it enhance
better relations with other African countries? Does imposing sanctions and
policies like cutting off electrical supplies and that, albeit inadvertently,
lead directly to the death of innocent babies and defenseless children help our
cause, bring glory to our name or give credence or credibility to our so-called
fight and quest for democracy? I doubt it very much.
I call on our leader and
President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is currently the Chairman of ECOWAS,
to review and reverse this policy and allow us to continue to supply
electricity to Niger.
This is all the more so given
the fact that cutting off electricity to that nation is bringing death,
suffering and hardship more to the women and children than to their government
officials and members of the newly-installed military junta.
Surely Niger’s suspension from
both ECOWAS and the African Union coupled with the imposition of a series of
strong economic sanctions including the closing of borders and the imposition
of a no fly zone, are enough punishment.
We must never forget that there
is a distinction between the government of a nation and its people.
Punishing the people for the
sins of their leaders and government is not only unjust and unkind but also
counter-productive.
Outside of that, it is
interesting to note that our French allies and partners, who are amongst those
western powers that want us to bring the Nigeriens to their knees and even
attack them, recently described Russia’s targeting of power grids in Ukraine and
denying the Ukrainians gas to power their electricity supply as a “war crime”
and “crime against humanity” yet they are encouraging Nigeria to do the same to
Niger.
When will the application of
these double standards by our French friends stop? Just in case anyone is in
any doubt about the high handedness and excesses of the French in Africa,
permit me to conclude with the strong words and powerful admonition served to
French President Emmanuel Macron by Giorgia Meloni, the courageous, passionate
and stunningly beautiful Italian Prime Minister.
In a blistering and thunderous
speech, she exclaimed the following words with orgasmic passion,
“Macron, your France undermined
and destroyed the good relationship we had with Gaddafi, destroyed Libya,
unleashed a wave of refugees and immigrants into Europe and appropriated the
resources of African countries and plundered their wealth.
“Children and the underage work
in feudal and inhuman conditions in Niger just for you to take a big percentage
of their uranium that powers your electricity and nuclear reactors.
Niger has no light and is dirt
poor all because of your policies”. What a lady! She has said it all!
Now just in case we doubt her,
let us consider the words of a towering figure like the former French President
Jaques Chirac who said the following at the 21st France/Africa Summit in
Yaounde, Cameroons in 2001 where 30 Heads of States were gathered.
He said, “While speaking of Africa, we must check our memory. We started draining the continent four and a half centuries ago with the slave trade. Next, we discovered their raw materials and seized them. Having deprived Africans of their wealth, we sent in our elites who destroyed their culture. Now, we are depriving them of their brains thanks to scholarships which are definitely another form of exploitation because, at the end, the most intelligent students do not go back to their countries. In the end, noticing that Africa is not in a good state and as bonuses for the wealth we made on its back, we are giving lectures” (Canard EnchainĂ©, January 24, 2001).
If there were ever a public
admission and confession of neo-colonial and imperialist malfeasance and
malevolence by a revered and highly respected French leader and colossal
figure, this is it. He was honest, candid, and forthright about his nation’s
egregious and pernicious atrocities and outrageous policies in Africa and we
commend him for that.
Yet, this begs the question: Are
these the French on whose behalf ECOWAS is considering fighting a war and
invading a brother African nation?
The west may have many African
leaders in their pockets and eating out of their hands but the hearts, minds
and souls of the overwhelming majority of the African people are with Vladimir
Putin and the Russian Federation who are now perceived, rightly or wrongly, as
the champions of the oppressed and the architects of a new and just world
order.
There is a wind of change
blowing in Africa and indeed the world today and every vestige of
neo-colonialism, imperialism, pseudo-fascism, economic bondage and fiscal
subjugation shall be blown away with and by it.We have seen this happen with
the meteoric and laudable rise in power, glory and influence of the formidable
BRICS block of nation’s which include China, Russia, India, Brazil and South
Africa and the admission of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt,
Argentina, Iran and Ethiopia into that elite club of rising economic powers and
giants just a few days ago.
They seek to set themselves free
and shatter the shackles of economic dominance and fiscal tyranny of the United
States of America, the United Kingdom, the European Union and all the other
Western powers and their allies.
Again we have seen this happen
in Mali, Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Sudan where the quest for
freedom from the bondage of former colonial masters like the French and corrupt
puppet African leaders and governments led to military coups.
Regardless of the legitimate
concerns of ECOWAS, I expect the same to happen in Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroons,
and possibly one or two other Franco-phone countries in the not-too-distant
future simply because each is bedeviled with sit-tight, vicious, undemocratic,
unelected rulers and tyrants, because the resentment against the French in
those countries is palpable and overwhelming and because the desire for Russian
support and friendship is astounding.
Nations like Nigeria, Ghana,
Benin, Senegal, and Liberia may thankfully not be in danger of military
intervention because they have a measure of legitimacy and because they came to
power through an ostensibly credible democratic process but their governments
and leaders MUST be very wary of the level of suspicion, hatred, disdain and
contempt that ordinary people have for the western neo-colonialists and imperialists
that appear to bring so much power and influence to bear over their nations’
affairs and for those that are seen as weak, corrupt puppet-leaders who are
prepared to put western interests before that of their own country.
These leaders and governments
cannot and must not make the mistake of being seen or regarded as the Chief
Poodle, Chief Enforcer, Chief Slave, Chief Slave-Driver, or the groveling and
sniveling “yes bwana”, “yes massa” Chief House N*gger of the western powers in
the West African sub-region.
ECOWAS MUST be perceived as a body that brings Africans together and settles their differences in a diplomatic and civilized manner and not a body that can be used by the French, Americans, British, EU or anyone else to exploit us, to further and protect western interests and to fight proxy wars on their behalf.
Frankly, the only
ones that I can vouch for in this respect are Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu and Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo who I do not believe would ever
consciously and willingly sell their people down the river.
Whatever the case, we must not
allow any country in the West African sub-region to be turned into a Zaire
under Mobutu Sese Seko or to a Central African Republic under Jeane Bedie
Bokassa. That is the French formula and it must never take root here. May God
guide our leaders!
*Chief
Femi Fani-Kayode is a former spokesman for the Bola Tinubu 2023 Presidential
Campaign
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