Former Beninese president, Boni Yayi, who had remained silent since the constitutional order was challenged in Niger, has finally broken his silence and made proposals for a way out of the crisis.
Like several voices that have risen against the ECOWAS military intervention in Niger, former head of state Boni Yayi condemns the coup in Niger but pleads for a negotiated diplomatic solution.
“In my capacity as former president of Benin and the African Union, I was, at the time, solicited in the resolution of several hotspots and electoral crises in Côte d’Ivoire (2010), Mali (2012), Sierra Leone (2012), Ghana (2012), Central African Republic (2012), Burkina Faso (2014), Burundi (2015), and more recently in Guinea (2022).”
Therefore, with all due modesty but with the utmost firmness, I condemn the military coup in Niger and demand the release of President Bazoum, as well as the preservation of his physical integrity and that of his family. In turn, I call for dialogue and a negotiated diplomatic solution. Dialogue and diplomacy should take precedence over the military option, the former head of state implied.
In his publication, he noted that “the African public opinion continues to wonder with concern why our regional institution did not think it necessary to refer the United Nations, notably its Security Council, as usual, or at least take into account the opinion of the AU Peace and Security Council which, based on its determination to silence the guns in Africa by 2030, asks the AU Commission, before any military intervention, to undertake an assessment of the economic, social, and security implications on the populations and report to it.”
For the former head of state, such an intervention would undoubtedly lead to a confrontation between our states, our peoples, resulting in the weakening of our economies and ultimately the disintegration of ECOWAS. “We absolutely must avoid this in order to preserve the memory of the Founding Fathers of ECOWAS,” Boni Yayi published.
According to him, it is high time to make real the will of the founding fathers of the OAU, particularly President Kwame Nkrumah, whose dream was the realization of African unity: “Africa Must Unite.”
“Furthermore, I note with great bitterness and astonishment that these calls have remained dead letters and a kind of sword of Damocles hangs over the peaceful and valiant populations of Niger. The borders remain closed, forcing the brotherly people of Niger and other peoples of the world into an increasingly certain famine and possibly refugees,” Boni Yayi lamented.
He reminds the African leaders at all levels, and especially the Heads of State of ECOWAS, that it was in 1885, at the Berlin Conference, that Africa was divided. And it was in fierce resistance that the colonizing Europe overcame our heroes Almamy Samory Touré, Bio Guerra, Kaba, and Behanzin, thus imposing the current borders.
“For humanitarian reasons, with all the required solemnity, I wish for the opening of all closed borders today, as well as the lifting of economic, monetary, and financial sanctions that directly target our weakened and innocent peoples in this matter. Furthermore, I associate myself with the Peace and Security Council of the African Union to launch a vibrant appeal to all actors to avoid any kind of external interference,” Boni Yayi emphasized.
He urges everyone to sow the gospel of peace, not that of war. “Everyone must avoid turning Niger and our sub-region into a theater of generalized conflicts and a sanctuary for jihadism,” he insisted in his publication.
Finally, Boni Yayi affirms that he remains convinced that the time has come to adopt the fundamental principles of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance in order to achieve the multilateral oversight of the governance of the affairs of the member states of our community.
“Thus, based on our protocols, adopt mechanisms for constitutional convergence, harmonize and consensualize our laws, the non-respect of which is certainly one of the factors contributing to the resurgence of challenges to constitutional order and the surge in military coups in our countries,” he added.
