ECOWAS’ stand on Niger is not dictated by France — Amb Tuggar - UABS

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Abubakar Tuggar has said that the decision taken by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) over the coup in Niger Republic earlier this year, is not dictated by France.

During an interview with Daily Trust, Tuggar stated that the reason for the creation of ECOWAS is regional integration, harmony, peace and the general security of the region and the organization always works in line with its mandate.

When asked if ECOWAS and Nigeria are trying to do the bidding of maybe France, the US and all those international do gooders who wouldn’t put their troops on the line, the Foreign Minister said;

“When have you ever seen Nigeria do the bidding of an external power? This is a country; you can’t even try to do that. Government is not exclusive of the rest of the country. So, when you’re talking about foreign policy, it’s a completely different area.

Foreign policy is formulated based on an aggregation of the position of a country and is not limited to the leader at the time, it’s not limited to the government, but the country as a whole.

You’re talking about interest groups, you’re talking about scholars, you’re talking about even the populace, the business community and so on and so forth. Let’s not reduce it to just an individual or to just a government.

I don’t see the connection, this is just playing into the hands of the propagandists that decided in order to remain in power, in order to sustain themselves, to label anybody you know it was a manikin approach.

If you’re not supporting what we did then you’re doing the bidding of France, and Nigeria has never been that way. You’re talking about a nation that nationalised Shell, you and I are old enough to know that Shell, British Petroleum.”