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00:00Within 2021 to 2023, there are a series of courses in Africa, and there's a school of
00:11thoughts that is of the opinion that ECOWA's response to those schools led to the formation
00:18of the Alliance of Sahel States.
00:21What in your opinion, sir, is the motivation behind the formation of the Alliance?
00:27Do you think there is a future for this Alliance, and what role do you think AES can play in
00:34regional unity?
00:39We cannot discount the place of diplomacy, you know, in international politics.
00:44Yes, ECOWA, through Nigeria's presidential chairmanship, made a mistake by saying that
00:50they were going to restore democracy in Niger using military force.
00:55That was an error.
00:56In diplomacy, in international diplomacy, you do not drop your final option at the beginning.
01:04Diplomacy is always primary, takes the center stage, considering the interests of the global
01:12community, you know, to avoid wars, conflicts leading to destructions, deaths, and of course,
01:18fundamental retrogression.
01:20So diplomacy will definitely continue.
01:23ECOWA will have to continue to rise above the fray, above the same, you know, same adamance
01:32of the AES states, you know, and they cannot confront them.
01:37They shouldn't talk tough to them.
01:40You know, they cannot be aggressive towards them because they have made this stand.
01:44They made it more than a year ago, and here we are.
01:47They are still continuing with it.
01:49Again, it might speak to the question of protectionism, if not to protect their regime,
01:54but maybe to protect their country, their citizens, further to the spirit of nationalism
02:00that we witnessed in those countries in those days.
02:04So we will still continue to see diplomacy from ECOWA, trying to assuage them.
02:08And of course, we have been witnesses to their resistance in the last couple of months, you
02:13know.
02:13Whether it will be sustainable again is another question.
02:17But there are two things that is emerging from here.
02:20One, the fear is that, is the exiting of these countries born out of a desire to protect,
02:27to preserve their regime, being military people, and just so they can avoid ECOWA's intervening
02:34in their countries, asking them to democratize, consistent with the ECOWA's protocol?
02:39That's the first question.
02:41Then the other one is, will their continuing adamance, you know, lead to development in
02:47those countries in the mode of a revolution?
02:50I do not forget, you know, there are statistics and indices saying that some of these countries
02:55are witnessing growth in their GDP, in their economies.
02:58Nigeria, for instance.
03:00So if they are making progress exiting ECOWA, if they are making progress within the context
03:06of AES, then, of course, we can't say that their exit, you know, is not beneficial to
03:13the people.