*By Paul Ejime*

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is 50 this year. However, for those who care about the future of the organisation once acclaimed as a trailblazer in regional economic integration, especially conflict management and resolution, the situation calls more for a deep reflection and introspection instead of popping Champagne cocks.

From the time when some of its member countries were under military dictatorships or with one rebel government in the bush and another in the state capital, ECOWAS managed to evolve to a period when all its 15 member States practised one form of democratic government or another.

For more than a decade after its formation on 28 May 1975 through the Treaty of Lagos, the organisation was seized with peace and security challenges involving sporadic conflicts and civil wars, beginning with the two civil wars in Liberia. Dozens of military coups also toppled elected governments.

On each occasion, ECOWAS leaders ensured there was an eventual return to constitutional rule, using regional instruments with the carrot and stick approach, including suspension of membership or imposition of sanctions on errant members where diplomacy failed.

But gradually, the regional leaders took their eyes off the ball, allowing unbridled alteration of national constitutions and election rigging for term elongation, gross violations of human rights, suppression of opposition and shrinking of the democratic space.

The democratic regression continued unabated, until 2020 when former Col now General Assimi Goita and his military colleagues led the coup that ousted the government of elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

By the middle of 2023, the region had witnessed more than half a dozen putsches, the game changer being on 26 July 2023 in Niger, led by the head of the country’s presidential guard General Abdourahamane Tchiani, who has since proclaimed himself the leader of a new military junta. Niger thus joined Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso as ECOWAS countries now under military dictatorships.

Instead of using its tried and tested strategies in whipping wayward member States into line, ECOWAS leaders mismanaged the situation by jumping headlong into the fray, imposing sweeping sanctions and threatening the use of military force to restore constitutional rule in Niger. Newly elected Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who was still fighting legal battles to secure his election was made Chairman of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

Perhaps to reciprocate that gesture, he caused Nigeria to suspend electricity supply to neighbouring Niger, even though the bilateral power supply agreement was not covered under any ECOWAS protocol.

Apart from the unpopular decision to use force in Niger, which was later abandoned, the role of France and its Francophone African allies, especially Cote d’Ivoire during the division between ECOWAS and its three Sahelian States of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, did not help matters.

In December 2023, the three, called the Alliance of Sahel States, or AES, served notice of their intention to quit ECOWAS “immediately.”

ECOWAS has since realised its mistake and changed tact, adopting diplomacy and negotiations to woo back the three countries, which have adamantly dug in their heels, 

At their last summit in Abuja last December, ECOWAS leaders still gave the junta leaders a six-month “cooling period” to reconsider their decision to pull their countries out of ECOWAS, failing which the separation would be deemed to have started in January 2025.

Barring last ditch efforts, the divorce could mark an unprecedented turning point in the history in ECOWAS and regional integration in Africa, with potential far-reaching consequences.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all landlocked countries, have expelled the troops of former colonial power, France, and the anti-French sentiments, which the junta leaders are riding on for their populist stance, have continued to grow.

The Senegal government of President Diomaye Faye, the ECOWAS Chief negotiator charged with convincing the three renegade countries to return to the fold, has also told Paris to close the French military base in the West African country and so has Chad, a non-ECOWAS member State.

General elections are due in Cote d’Ivoire this year and in what is seen as political expediency, or “a pre-emptive strike,” President Alassane Ouattara has also announced a phased withdrawal of French troops from one of the bases in the country.

But to put issues in context, it is the citizens of the Francophone countries that are behind the anti-French sentiments. They started the movement, before the military juntas joined.

Critics are unconvinced about the junta leaders’ sincerity of purpose. A critical examination of their careers would show that they are all beneficiaries of the French system. Several years after they seized power, there is little or no progress in their political transition programmes.

In clear violation of regional and continental protocols, they have also indicated their intention to stand as candidates in elections for transition to civilian rule, which many consider a sign they are bent to perpetuate themselves in power and not “liberators” as they claim.

The three countries still belong to the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union, UEMOA, set up by France, which are members of ECOWAS and using the CFA franc, controlled by the French Treasury. The juntas grouse with ECOWAS, could be that it is the only organisation pressuring them to return to constitutional rule.

Zimbabwe’s diplomat, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Qua, deserves much credit for consistently calling out the French for the “inhumane” colonial pacts it forced on leaders of former African colonies at independence. Through her, the outside world became aware that Paris was making some 500 billion dollars per year from the exploitation of Francophone Africa. Unsurprisingly, she was sacked from her role as the African Union’s representative to the United Nations in 2019.

In the assessment of ECOWAS’ performance, it is not all gloom and doom, but perhaps, the proverbial half-full or half-empty cup. However, the undeniable truth is that all is not well with the organisation. By its standards, ECOWAS has under-performed, particularly in the last decade.

In a dynamic world of shifting geopolitics and geostrategic ecosystem, with multilateralism yielding place to bilateral/unilateral pursuits and new nationalism, characterised by emerging global threats of terrorism, insurgencies, extremism, and the invasion of social media, disinformation/misinformation and fake news, it would be naive to expect ECOWAS to be static or immune to external influence/interference.

Organisations, such as the United Nations and even the European Union, which are reference points, experience a bad patch or “wilderness” period. But life coaches will tell you that ‘it is not how many times you fall, but your ability to rise from each fall that determines your strength, sustainability and future.’

Applying this maxim to ECOWAS, it is fair to say that while the organisation should be proud of its past achievements, such as the free movement of persons, goods and services, and the right to residence and establishment, the challenges and threats of regional disintegration are real and present.

While, pre- and immediate post-independent African leaders did the heavy lifting by ensuring that much of Africa and its people were emancipated from slavery and colonialism, many African countries are still dependent and contemporary African leaders have failed their people by being self-serving instead of giving meaning to the nominal independence of their countries.

For the wobbly ECOWAS, the worst-case scenario could be the eventual withdrawal of the three AES countries or the balkanisation of the economic bloc, which will be a major setback.

On a positive note, the presence of Burkina Faso’s junta leader Capt Ibrahim Traore at the inauguration of Ghana’s new President John Dramani Mahama on 7th January 2025 could be a silver lining. Ghana has demonstrated democratic maturity by successfully conducting the ninth cycle of general elections with the fourth peaceful transfer of power between ruling and opposition parties for 33 years since its return of the multiparty system in 1992.

For Mahama, it is a glorious comeback with an overwhelming victory of 56% vote and a commanding parliamentary majority, after a hung parliament and the best presidential outing since the country’s independence from Britain in 1957.

He could deploy his experience and work to bequeath indelible legacies to his country which prides itself as the Black Star of Africa. At the regional level, Mahama could also team up with his colleagues, particularly Nigeria’s President Tinubu to reposition and refocus ECOWAS on the dreams of its founding fathers.

Every organisation requires a pillar/leader, which ECOWAS has lacked over the past decade. Like their predecessors combined to galvanise other regional leaders to end the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Tinubu and Mahama owe their countries and the region the duty and responsibility to provide the necessary leadership that will prevent ECOWAS from disintegration. Tinubu as ECOWAS Chair was Guest of honour at Mahama’s inauguration.

*Ejime is a Global Affairs Analyst and Consultant on Peace & Security, and Governance Communications*

The post ECOWAS Unravelling: Will Mahama’s 2nd Coming Be a Silver Lining?* appeared first on Center for Community Law. written by Centre for Community Law

*By Paul Ejime

Military rulers in Mali and Burkina Faso have thrown the proverbial wild cat among the pigeons by backing the coup makers in neighbouring Niger in defiance of ECOWAS, the regional economic bloc, and by extension, the international community.

After their extraordinary meeting in Abuja on Sunday, 30th July 2023, ECOWAS leaders imposed a series of sanctions on Niger and gave the Brig.-Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani-led coup makers a seven-day ultimatum to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and restore constitutional order in the country or face possible “use of (military) force.”

The African Union (AU) had earlier given the Niger coupists 15 days to reinstate elected Bazoum, who was deposed in the coup of 26th July. 

Niger is a strategic ally of the West and the United Nations, European Union, France, and U.S. which have military bases in Niger have also condemned the coup and suspended financial aid as well as military assistance and cooperation with Niger.

Moscow, which has been making strong political and economic inroads into Africa has also condemned the Niger putsch, but the leadership of Russia’s private military group Wagner has hailed the Niger coup as a good development.

Wagner is active in several Africa countries and the military regimes in Mali and Burkina Faso, former French colonies, have side stepped Paris and turned to Russia for military support to fight terrorist and Islamic insurgency.

In their joint statement on Monday, the Mali and Burkina Faso military governments made no reference to the African Union, but specifically denounced the position taken against Niger by ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, with the French acronym UEMOA.

The two military governments said they would not respect the “illegal, illegitimate and inhuman sanctions” announced by ECOWAS and UEOMA against Niger.

They also warned that any military intervention against Niger would “amount to a declaration of war against Mali and Burkina Faso” and could result in both countries’ withdrawal from ECOWAS, and their “declaration of self-defence measures in support of the armed forces and people of Niger.”

The non-reference to the African Union in the joint statement is instructive given that it was the continental organization that first issued an ultimatum to the Niger junta before ECOWAS and UEMOA after their separate meetings in Abuja.

It was curious that the African Union fired the first shot in the case of Niger, contrary to established tradition of allowing Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to take the lead in regional conflict management and interventions. 

Indeed, the African Union had attracted criticism of “double standard” in its treatment of coup makers in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, who have been slammed with sanctions, while Chadian current leader Gen. Mahamat Kaka Idris Derby, who also seized power after Chadian rebels assassinated his father president in 2021 is given VIP treatment by the continental body.

Ironically, the young Gen. Derby has visited Niger for talks with the coup leaders, detained Bazoum and his predecessor in office President Mahamadou Issoufou, after consultations on Sunday with Nigerian President Ahmed Tinubu, Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government., who convened the Abuja summit on Niger.

It is believed that the AU’s precipitate 15-day ultimatum to the Niger coup makers might have forced ECOWAS to issue a shorter deadline of seven days, thereby boxing the regional bloc into a dilemma. 

From experience, ECOWAS and the AU would normally impose sanctions before issuing an ultimatum, but perhaps, in order to appear tough on the incessant military incursions in the region, ECOWAS decided to announce its sanctions and the ultimatum in one go.

ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff are expected to hold an emergency meeting in Abuja on Wednesday on the way forward in Niger. This is expected to be followed by a military delegation to Niger.

But the situation begs the question whether ECOWAS can make good its threat of military intervention within seven days, and what becomes of its already tented reputation in the event of its failure to follow through with the threat?

There are huge assumed and unintended implications and consequences of kinetic confrontations between Niger’s ill-equipped and poorly trained estimated 12,000 active and 5,000 reserve military and police forces, with a possible Nigeria-led external forces, which is likely to receive support from the U.S. and France, which have military bases and about 3,000 combined troops in Niger.

Such confrontations will make the ECOWAS region a war theatre, further compounding the grave insecurity and socioeconomic hardships bedevilling the community of estimated 400 million people.

In addition, landlocked Niger shares porous borders and historical ties with Nigeria and a number of politically unstable nations such as Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya and Algeria.

A war that pits ECOWAS member States among themselves, could unleash dire humanitarian consequences leaving the region more susceptible and vulnerable to infiltration by terrorists and other armed groups from the Sahel.

No doubt, there has to be a strong message to military adventurers such as Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger, Assimi Goita of Mali, Mamady Doumbouya of Guinea, and Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso that ECOWAS and the international community will stop at nothing to defend democracy and the respect for constitutional order in the region.

But as the maxim goes, he who comes to equity must also come with clean hands! 

Is the raft of sanctions and external interventions about saving political allies in trouble, what about the long-suffering populations, who are already victims of bad governance in these countries?

President Bazoum was elected and should be protected, but the root causes of incessant coups and growing domestic disaffection with governments in Africa and their foreign allies demand very urgent interrogation and remedy.

The life and comfort of a government official cannot be more valuable than the lives and survival of the majority of oppressed citizens. 

The international community must spare a thought for Niger’s estimated 26 million population impoverished in the midst of priced minerals such as uranium, gold, oil, cement, coal, gypsum, limestone, salt, silver, and tin, being exploited by foreign companies to enrich their nations, while Niger remains one of the poorest countries of the World.

There should not be a different set of rules for corrupt leaders who rig elections, alter national constitutions to obtain or retain political power, repress their opponents and trample on the citizens’ rights, and the coup plotters.

There must be justice and consistency in the collective defence and consolidation of democracy. 

Extreme caution is required in dealing with the complex situation in Niger to avoid unnecessary bloodletting or aggravation of the country’s perilous situation.

Africa has more than its fair share of wars and instability.

The triggers and drivers of military incursions into politics in the continent must be addressed with a rule of the thumb zero-tolerance for any unconstitutional change of government.

But whereby regional and continental organizations or the international community allow or conspire with the ruling class to commit economic crimes, human rights violations and ballot box coups, the restoration of constitutional order should not be at the expense of ordinary citizens who are already suffocating under the undemocratic weight of bad governance.

*Paul Ejime is a Global Affairs Analyst and Specialist on Strategic Communications, Media, Governance Issues & Elections

The post Mali, Burkina Faso Military Rulers Dare ECOWAS, Back Niger Coup Makers appeared first on Center for Community Law. written by Guest

By Paul Ejime

ECOWAS leaders are to hold an emergency summit in Abuja, Nigeria on Sunday to discuss the political and security situation in Niger following the military coup that toppled the government of President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday.

Brig.-Gen Tiani Abdourahamane, Head of the Presidential Guard appeared on national television on Friday as leader of the new ruling military National Council.

The armed forces have pledged support to the coup leaders.

Niger borders have been closed, national institutions including the Parliament suspended, and public demonstrations are banned.

A group of military officers had announced on Wednesday that President Bazoum had been removed.

They accused him of corrupt leadership and failure to end insecurity in Niger, considered one of the poorest countries in the World despite its rich natural resource.

The Niger coup, the seventh in West and Central Africa following the military takeover in neighbouring Mali in 2020, has been widely condemned internationally, including by the U.S. EU, ECOWAS and France, the former colonial power in Niger.

Nigeria’s President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who had warned against unconstitutional change of governments after assuming the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in early July, is reported to have dispatched delegations to mediate in the Niger leadership crisis.

In its second statement in as many days condemning the Niger coup in the strongest terms, the ECOWAS Commission has also demanded the unconditional release of Bazoum detained by the putschists.

Faced with grave socio-economic challenges and the baggage of corrupt and poor leaderships, and three of its member States – Mali, Guinea Conakry, and Burkina – under military rule, ECOWAS is running out of effective options to arrest the regression of democracy in the region of more than 400 million people.

Will the Niger coup makers be forced out without harm to those they are now holding as bargaining chops, or can the stalemate be resolved diplomatically?

Embattled President Bazoum and his predecessor, former President Mahamadou Issoufou, who literally anointed him in 2021, are close allies of the West. 

France relocated its troops to Niger after they were sacked by the Col. Assimi Goita-led military regime in Mali.

America and some Western countries also have troops in the Sahel region, including Niger, where they are helping to fight terrorism and Islamic Jihadist insurrection.

Did Bazoum, who is considered to be of Arab extraction annoy Paris, or did he step on the toes of any of his powerful allies?

Perhaps, only time will tell!

The post ECOWAS EXTRAORDINARY SUMMIT ON NIGER IN ABUJA ON SUNDAY appeared first on Center for Community Law. written by Guest

Sadly, it is now beyond speculation and uncertainty: Niger has joined the ranks of ECOWAS States under military rule, climaxing the events that commenced on 26 July, 2023. With this situation, the neigbouring countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali have become an axis of coup. This contagion or imitation must stop!

In our reflection on the issue on 26 July, 2023, we wondered what the ECOWAS, the AU and all other States that condemned the action and called on the Coupists to stand down, would do, should they fail to heed the clarion call, as they have just done.

Judging from the lacklustre progress and frequent shifts in the transition timetables agreed between ECOWAS and the Juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea, one cannot but wonder what ECOWAS and the AU will now do differently.

On our part, we believe it is time enough for the ECOWAS, which plays a seemingly active role, howbeit half-heartedly, in preventing coups and transiting to civilian rule where coup happens, to adopt a different strategy to preventing coups and terminating military rules before the sub region is consumed by coups.

ECOWAS should move away from indiscriminate sanctions that punishes everyone to targeted sanctions against the Coupists, their family members and associates. Indiscriminate sanction only further punishes the people on whose behalf ECOWAS and other foreign efforts are acting.

The situation in Niger is more dire and complicated by the level of poverty and insecurity plaguing the country. Attention must be paid to the fact that Niger has so far played the role of a strong line of defence against insurgency in the sub region.  

With the even greater threat of the Wagner Group waiting in the wings to get into the fray, as they are currently doing in Mali, the situation is delicate and must be handled with utmost care.

Given the situation on ground in Niger and many West African States, one cannot argue with the excuses given by Colonel Amadou Abdramane, that they decided to “put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance”. However, one can always argue with the decision of the military to cease power, as it has never been shown that the military is ever been able to solve the problems they identify as the reason for toppling the government. They only complicate the problems. In any event, insecurity is an indictment on the military itself.

Nevertheless, and as we have always stated, the answer to coup is good government; free, fair and transparent elections; respect for human rights and rule of law.

When these are not provided by a government, and the military takes advantage of the failings, the international community may react all it likes, the people’s tendency to welcome the abnormal government would remain unaffected by whatever the international community is saying or doing.

More than ever before, the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS must unite around the constitutional convergence principles in the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and challenge themselves to adhere religiously and holistically to them.  

The constitutional principles to be shared by all Member States:

• Separation of powers – the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. – Empowerment and strengthening of parliaments and guarantee of parliamentary immunity. – Independence of the Judiciary: Judges shall be independent in the discharge of their duties. – The freedom of the members of the Bar shall be guaranteed; without prejudice to their penal or disciplinary responsibility in the event of contempt of court or breaches of the common law.
• Every accession to power must be made through free, fair and transparent elections.
• Zero tolerance for power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means.
• Popular participation in decision-making, strict adherence to democratic principles and decentralisation of power at all levels of governance.
• The armed forces must be apolitical and must be under the command of a legally constituted political authority; no serving member of the armed forces may seek to run for elective political.
•  Secularism and neutrality of the State in all matters relating to religion; freedom for each individual to practise, within the limits of existing laws, the religion of his/her choice everywhere on the national territory. The secularism shall extend to all parts of the State, but shall not deprive the State of the right to regulate, with due respect to human rights, the different religions practised on the national territory or to intervene when law and order break down as a result of any religious activity.
•  The State and all its institutions belong to all the citizens; therefore none of their decisions and actions shall involve any form of discrimination, be it on an ethnic, racial, religion or regional basis.
• The rights set out in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other international instruments shall be guaranteed in each of the ECOWAS Member States; each individual or organisation shall be free to have recourse to the common or civil law courts, a court of special jurisdiction, or any other national institution established within the framework of an international instrument on Human Rights, to ensure the protection of his/her rights. In the absence of a court of special jurisdiction, the present Supplementary Protocol shall be regarded as giving the necessary powers to common or civil law judicial bodies.
• Political parties shall be formed and shall have the right to carry out their activities freely, within the limits of the law. Their formation and activities shall not be based on ethnic, religious, regional or racial considerations. They shall participate freely and without hindrance or discrimination in any electoral process. The freedom of the opposition shall be guaranteed. Each Member State may adopt a system for financing political parties, in accordance with criteria set under the law.
•  The freedom of association and the right to meet and organise peaceful demonstrations shall also be guaranteed.
•  The freedom of the press shall be guaranteed. l) All former Heads of State shall enjoy a special status including freedom of movement. They shall enjoy special benefits compatible to their status as former Heads of State. 

Unfortunately, the leaders of the region are wont to pay lip service to these principles and only attempt to take action to emphasise ‘zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government’, but this is mostly only where there is a coup; only then do they call extraordinary summits here and there and at very short notices. The leaders must re-channel their energies and do so purposively and proactively.

Beyond this, the ECOWAS Leaders must begin to look beyond the region and the multiple problems to foreign States or groups that may be promoting coups in the region.

ECOWAS Leaders must get very proactive and truly unite against coup, its causes and sponsors.

@centre for community law, July, 2023

The post Now that Niger is the Fourth ECOWAS State under Military Regime: Fear of Contagion or Imitation Increases appeared first on Center for Community Law. written by Centre for Community Law

In May 2023, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, worried about the rising spate of coup d’etat within the region and its impact on the rule of law and national development, hosted a national conference in Banjul at The Gambia on the subject. Leaving nothing to doubt, the theme of the conference was ‘Ecowas Zero Tolerance for Unconstitutional Change of Government’.

The Conference was well attended by legal experts, judges of national and international courts, members of the academia, heads of ECOWAS institutions, officers of States, etc. After extensive deliberations, the conference issued a communiqué on steps to be taken to stem the current tide of coup within the region. It is worthy of note that the court’s effort was to complement the efforts of the Authority of Heads of States and Governments to deal with the situations in Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso, though it appears the Authority is doing too little or its tactics are just not right for the situation.

As news trickled in on Wednesday that the Presidential Guards are holding President Mohamed Bazoum captive inside the Presidential Palace in the Nigerien Capital, there are fears that Niger may join the list of ECOWAS States in which a coup has taken place in recent times. Will Niger become the fourth ECOWAS State where military juntas hold sway?  

As expected, the ‘Unpleasant Developments in Niger Republic, as President Bola Tinubu, the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, termed it, has attracted commendation from diverse sources.

In a statement released earlier today, President Tinubu stressed that no situation that incapacitates the democratically-elected Government of Niger will be tolerated and that ‘[t]he ECOWAS leadership will not accept any action that impedes the smooth functioning of legitimate authority in Niger or any part of West Africa’. According to him, ‘we are closely monitoring the situation and developments in Niger and we will do everything within our powers to ensure democracy is firmly planted, nurtured, well rooted and thrives in our region’. Apart from speaking for the ECOWAS Authority, the President and Chairman went on to assure the people of Niger of the support of Nigeria. According to him ‘[a]s the Chairperson of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, I state without  equivocation that Nigeria stands firmly with the elected government in Niger and equally conveys the absolute resolve of leaders in our sub-region that we shall not waiver or flinch on our stand to defend and preserve constitutional order’.

On its part, the ECOWAS Commission has also issued a statement to condemn in the strongest term the attempt to seize power by force’ with a demand that the democratically elected President Bazoum be unconditionally released immediately and a threat that the international community would hold all those involved responsible. In a statement released in its twitter handle, the African Union Commission also condemned the on-going coup situation and demanded an unconditional release of the President.

It is hoped that the coup plotters would heed these numerous calls and terminate their criminal enterprise immediately; we also hope appropriate action would be taken to normalise the situation should they not heed the calls.

Beyond that, as has been continuously said by several concerned citizens of the region, the best panacea to coups are free, fair and transparent elections, good government and the enthronement of the rule of law. When any or all of these foundational requirements for a democratic and prosperous society are absent, the tendency for disgruntled, and perhaps, ill advised opportune members of the society to resort to unconventional means of changing their government may just become a heroic venture.

While dealing with this situation, the Centre for Community Law would like to invite the civilian Heads of States and Governments of ECOWAS States to do a deep introspection on their actions and omissions and how such reflect on their people. They must begin to take serious action towards ensuring that all governments are fulfilling the constitutional convergence principles of the 2001 ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. Such would do better than the release of statements after the fact of coups.

@Cfcomlaw, 26 July, 2023    

The post The resurgence of coup in ECOWAS: Will Niger be the Fourth? appeared first on Center for Community Law. written by Centre for Community Law