By Emeka Obasi
Niger as battle ground is sweet music to the ears of President Alassane Dramane Ouattara whose goal is to divert attention from his contentious third term in Cote d’Ivoire and keep war away from his country through neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea respectively.
When Ouattara boldly announced in Nigeria that ECOWAS leaders were battle ready to restore Mohamed Bazoum to power in Niger he meant every word that came out of his mouth. “We are determined to restore president Bazoum to his functions”, the Ivorian leader said.
ECOWAS
chairman, Bola Tinubu, was yet to announce a Foreign Minister when he summoned
his colleagues to Abuja. I believe Ouattara exploited that lacuna to hoodwink
some of the presidents with the promise that his country would raise a
Battalion to support the proposed regional strike force.
What should border Tinubu is why
Ouattara did not call for ECOMOG when the military struck in Burkina Faso, Mali
and Guinea respectively. These countries share common borders with Cote
d’Ivoire. Charity, they say, begins at home.
The reason is simple. Burkina
Faso means a lot to Ouattara. Many Ivorians are so sure that his parents were
Burkinabe. When Ouattara ran into political windstorm, the Ouagadougou Accords
made it possible for him to contest the November 2010 presidential elections in
Cote d’Ivoire.
Ouattara was the presumed winner
of the elections but Laurent Gbagbo refused to step aside. The crisis that
erupted claimed over 3,000 lives. A Transition arrangement that saw Gbagbo as
president and Guillaume Soro, guerilla leader of Forces Nouvelles ( New Forces)
serving as prime minister restored calm.
Before assuming office as
president in 2011, Ouattara was part of the political sore in his country.
Brought back home by Father of the Nation, Felix Houphouet Boigny, to shore up
the economy, the former began to nurse deeper political ambitions.
Ouattara later rose to the
position of prime minister in 1990. In the next three years, he tried to usurp
the power of the president. When Boigny died on December 12, 1993, Ouattara
told the world, “ Cote d’Ivoire is orphaned.”
Following Boigny’s passage, the
Ivorian constitution stipulated that the president of the National Assembly,
Henri Konan Bedie, should step in as leader of the country. Ouattara refused to
play by the rules and tried to push Bedie out of relevance.
Bedie fought back, using all
means, fair and foul, to keep Ouattara out power and the country. The tussle
was so fierce that when Gen. Robert Guei led a military coup that sacked Bedie
in December 1999, Ouattara described it as, “ not a coup but a revolution
supported by all the Ivorian people”.
The same
Ouattara that supported Guei’s coup, is planning to wage war against Gen.
Abdarahmane Tchiani and the people of Niger Republic. He has already budgeted
150 million United States dollars to fund the war for, at least, three months.
This war monger is out to force
Tinubu into an immediate battle in the Northern frontiers of Nigeria while
Ivory Coast is surrounded by military presidents in Mali, Guinea and Burkina
respectively. It would also make sense to send ECOWAS troops to these three
countries.
Ouattara is being foxy. In March
2020, after spending nine years in power, he vowed not to go for a third term.
Four months later, prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, his anointed candidate
for the October elections, gave up the ghost. Ouattara used that opportunity to
run again.
The Ivorian president rigged
himself back into office. His people are fighting to kick the 81 – year – old
out power. This is the situation at home and the ECOWAS chairman must be
properly guided by incoming Foreign Affairs minister Yusuf Tuggar.
When Assimi Goita of Mali
captured over 46 Ivorian soldiers, branded them mercenaries and planned to
execute a few, including women, Ouattara did not send troops to Bamako in 2022.
He dispatched Defence minister, Tene Ibrahima Ouattara, to the Malian
capital to negotiate. For the records, the Ouattaras are siblings.
The man who murdered Thomas
Sankara and ruled Burkina Faso with iron fist, Blaise Campaore, is living
almost next door to Ouattara in Abidjan. He was chased away from Ouagadougou.
The Ivorian president dare not invade Burkina Faso but he has the guts to dare
Niger Republic.
Ouattara is smart. Should West
Africa burn, he is guaranteed luxury in either the US or France. His first
wife, Barbara Jean Davis, was American. The present wife, Dominique Nouvian, is
a Franco Algerian with Jewish links. She is Roman Catholic while her husband
practises islam.
America will protect Ouattara.
He was at the University of Pennsylvania for post graduate courses, after
earning a Bachelor’s from the Drexel Institute of Technology, Philadelphia. The
Ivorian leader also worked at the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) as Deputy
Managing Director.
ECOWAS leaders should ‘shine’
their eyes. In 2019, Ouattara was honoured with the Grand Cross of the National
Order of Burkina Faso. He also got the Grand Cross of the National Order of
Mali. Simply, let us take war to Niamey and ignore Mali and Burkina.
Tinubu must not fall for
Ouattara’s poisoned chalice. Nigerian Armed Forces should not be sent to war
that may even consume the country. I predicted Bello Matawalle as Defence
minister. He has an award from Niger Republic. His job should keep ECOMOG away.
*Obasi is a commentator on public issues
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