Niger:I would’ve told Tinubu not to accept the leadership of ECOWAS if I had the opportunity-Afegbua

A Chieftain of the APC and former commissioner for information in Edo State, Kassim Afegbua has said he would have advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to accept the chairmanship of ECOWAS if he had the opportunity. Afegbua said accepting the position is seeming like a distraction to Tinubu from concentrating on issues facing the country. Afegbua said this in light of the coup in Niger republic which ECOWAS has been actively trying to intervene in to restore Democratic rule.

Speaking in Focus Nigeria, He said, “if I had opportunity one on one to advise President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I would have told him from day one not to even accept the leadership of ECOWAS because of the humongous challenges facing Nigeria which he inherited. And so this ECOWAS leadership to me is seeming like a distraction from concentrating on the real issues bedevilling Nigeria. And this is a very honest opinion.

You see there have been coups in West Africa. Burkina Faso is one, Chad is another, Guinea Conakry is another, Mali is another. All of that are issues on ground, ECOWAS as a body didn’t muster enough courage to address all of these issues. So why is the Niger own suddenly becoming a hot spot.

So our position and the steps we take in diplomatic issues must be very strategic at every point, we also must handle issues delicately and sensitively so that we don’t incur the wrath of neighbours who ordinarily will not toe your line when it comes to crisis situations.”

(From 41:44)

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