By; USMAN NASIDI, Kaduna
The Nigeria Network of Peace Journalists (NNPJ), Kaduna State is appealing to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and at the same time, the current Chairman of the authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Bola Ahmed Tinubu against the use of force with Niger Republic following the recent coup in the country.
A statement signed by the team leader of the network, Ibrahima Yakubu and issued to journalist on Sunday in Kaduna, stressed the need for the ECOWAS to sustain peace talk and dialogue with Niger Republic for the unity in the region.
He said, “our stand is peace and dialogue for the unity of the entire black nation, while encouraging ECOWAS to use the medium of diplomacy to resolve the situation.”
“We as various media organizations across the country have joined hands towards making calls for peace talks and dialogues with the aims of resolving the situation in the region.” The group said.
The team leader called on President Ahmed Tinubu not to lead the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to take military action against coupists in the Republic of Niger.
Prominent figures in Nigeria, including members of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, legal luminary Femi Falana, retired ex-naval chief Suleiman Sa’idu, former Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Almustapha Haruna Jokolo, former Wazirin Katsina, Sani Abubakar Lugga, and prominent columnist and former presidential spokesman Segun Adeniyi, have spoken on the situation in Niger.
They concur that diplomacy should be the way forward and, if it fails, employing strong sanctions to compel the coup plotters to reconsider their actions and return to democratic rule.
They said the best way to go is to use diplomacy, and when it fails, deploy sanctions that would compel the initiators of the coup to have a rethink towards sustaining democracy in the country.
The act of diplomacy can help towards better communication and negotiation, image management, and policy implementation to address future occurrences in the Sahel region.
While calling on local and global media to reduce the hype about the issues related to the Niger Republic situation, they added, “We are all brothers from the same region.
“We strongly believe that peace talk and dialogue is the best approach to resolve the current situation.”
“We appeal to ECOWAS to use all available means of diplomacy towards bringing an end to the situation for Peace and Stability in West Africa and the continent at large.
“Indeed, the use of diplomacy is instrumental in communication, negotiation, intelligence gathering, image management, and policy implementation.
“We call on all African countries to promote and sustain democratic government for development and success in the African region,” the statement said.
