Concerned about the potential consequences of the proposed military intervention in Niger Republic, the Reunion of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA) has urged the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to refrain from using force to restore the country’s constitutional regime.
RECOWA, which represents all West African Catholic Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops, also urged sub-regional leaders to learn from what happened in Libya in 2011, characterizing it as a tragic example of the disastrous effects on people’s lives, dignity, and future.
On August 7, they sent a two-page letter to the President of ECOWAS, the Heads of State of ECOWAS, and the Transitional Authorities in Niger, urging discussion and reconciliation rather than belligerence and military reprisal.
The letter, signed by RECOWA President and Bishop of Agboville, Most Rev. Alexis Touabli Youlo, followed the military coup that deposed the democratically elected government of President Mohammed Bazoum in the Niger Republic and the ECOWAS Authority’s determination to use all means necessary, including force, to restore the constitutional regime in Niger.
Despite a seven-day deadline issued to the military regime led by Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani to restore Niger’s constitutional government, all other diplomatic efforts by ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations to resolve the Niger crisis have failed to bring order and stability to the troubled country.
RECOWA, in its two-page letter, consequently advocated for pacifism rather than belligerence in crisis management, encouraging all actors within and outside the sub-region to exercise restraint, discernment, and responsibility.
The letter read in part: “We, the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops of the Reunion of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa, after consultations, are deeply concerned by the sub-regional tension linked to the political situation in Niger. Faced with the events currently unfolding in the sub-region, the lives of the people of West Africa are at stake.
“Keeping as our central vision the integrity of the people and emphasising respect for human dignity and a high sense of accountability to mankind, history and God the Creator, we affirm that nothing can justify the creation or facilitation of an environment that is destructive to our people.”
The letter said emphatically that no individual, national, regional, geopolitical, or denominational interest or goal should take precedence over the protection of life, human dignity, and the well-being of future generations in West Africa and beyond.
On this basis, the letter said, “We, your pastors, are convinced, and history teaches us that violence does not solve any problem, not even the one that caused it. We underline that any military action in Niger at this time would be more concerned with the people of Niger and the sub-region than with providing solutions.
“Terrorism already has a macabre toll of widows, orphans, displaced persons, the hungry, the maimed and so on. People are not expecting the regional, African and other institutions to add to this toll,” the Catholic bishops of West Africa observed in their letter to the sub-regional leaders.
In retrospect, the bishops cited the military intervention in Libya by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 2011, describing the military intervention as a tragic example of the disastrous consequences for people’s lives, dignity and future.
They, therefore, said: “We cannot remain silent in the face of such situations and must learn lessons to ensure that such events do not happen again, particularly with Niger as a potential epicentre of a similar crisis. As a Bishops’ conference, our mission is intimately linked to the promotion of reconciliation and peace.
“We firmly believe that every human being is called to live in peace and to be a peacemaker by the teachings of the Bible and those of the holy books of other religious confessions, which exhort us to work for reconciliation and brotherhood between all peoples.
“Peace is a precious gift that we must cultivate and preserve together. It is like a common mat that we must weave together with each person contributing to his or her thread,” the bishops canvassed measures to deepen and promote peace within the sub-region.
They also challenged all men, women, and national, sub-regional and international organisations to play a positive role in easing tensions and promoting lasting peace, noting that the people of the region “love and accept each other and are constantly seeking to improve their coexistence.
“This is a natural gift that we must support and encourage. Every actor and institution should contribute positively to this process by promoting dialogue and cooperation,” the bishops further demanded.
They called on the African Union and ECOWAS to show responsibility before history and to revisit their respective missions. At this critical and delicate time, according to them, these organisations must play an active role in the search for peaceful and lasting solutions, putting the interests of the people and respect for their dignity first.
The bishops called on the sub-regional leaders to respond decisively to this call for restraint, discernment and responsibility, but work together to build a future of peace and prosperity for the West Africa region and Africa as a whole.
Credit: Mockingbird
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