Former Nigerian Head of State Urges ECOWAS to Lift Sanctions on Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic

Former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, a key figure in the formation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has made a public plea urging the regional bloc to lift sanctions imposed on Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic.

ECOWAS, a 15-nation alliance established in 1975 to enhance economic cooperation among member states in West Africa, has faced challenges in halting a series of military coups across the region, with Mali in 2020 and 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Niger Republic in 2023.

The bloc, excluding suspended members Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Niger, alongside the West African Economic and Monetary Union, decided to seal borders with Niger, halt financial transactions, and freeze the country’s external assets.

In an unexpected move, the three countries, which had earlier contemplated forming a new coalition called the Alliance of Sahel States following the fall of the democratically elected government in Niger, officially withdrew from ECOWAS on Sunday, January 28, 2023, through a joint statement released from Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Niamey by their respective military leaders.

The three African nations, presently under military rule, cited their departure from ECOWAS as a result of the regional body allegedly straying from the founding principles and ideologies of its pioneer leaders and pan-Africanism.