Three member states recently left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under Bola Tinubu’s leadership. Timi Frank, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), described this as a source of national shame and embarrassment for Nigeria in a statement.
The military administrations in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger announced last Sunday that they would be leaving ECOWAS immediately and joining the Alliance of Sahel States instead, according to DAILY POST.
Following coups in Niger (July 2023), Burkina Faso (2022), and Mali (2020), strained relations between the governments and ECOWAS intensified. Niger and Mali faced severe fines and suspension from ECOWAS, but the three nations did not waver.
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Frank chastised Tinubu for failing to find a peaceful solution to the long-standing problems, which led to Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali’s expulsion from the regional organisation. He made a comparison between Tinubu’s leadership and that of the earlier leaders, who were crucial in preserving harmony and stability in the subregion.
He said: “Since assuming office as President of Nigeria, Tinubu has demonstrated his lack of nuanced understanding of regional politics and empathy for poor and suffering Nigerians – his primary constituency.
“No man can give what he does not have. His poor leadership of the regional body has led to its ongoing disintegration just as it has brought untold hardship upon Nigerians.
“Whether Tinubu likes it or not, he met the 15-member regional group established about 49 years ago intact when he assumed the reins of leadership as chairman in July 2023. But history will record that things fell apart during his ineffectual, riderless and neglectful stewardship in less than seven months.
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“Your inexperience and that of those handling the economy has destroyed our economy.
Given that they are still leaving Nigeria on a daily basis, investors are reluctant to enter the region.
“For instance, Tinubu met the exchange rate of Naira to Dollar at about N600 to a dollar but today it is about N1,500 to a dollar.
“Besides, his knee-jerk removal of fuel subsidy has further impoverished Nigerians with people finding it difficult to feed or afford skyrocketing transport fares.
“Above all, insecurity is on the increase with the nation’s capital – FCT – and other parts of the country rendered increasingly unsafe by incessant kidnappings and gruesome killings.”
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