Let us give peace a chance in Niger

A peaceful resolution of the emergency situation in Niger, acceptable to all the parties, will definitely need more time than a week, to be achieved.

To spare the ordinary citizens of Niger, from the destructive effects of wars, on civilians, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional bloc, must extend the deadline of its one week ultimatum to the coup's military leaders, which ends today, Sunday.

Furthermore, the ECOWAS regional bloc's leaders must ask all outside powers (especially France, the U. S. and NATO), not to intervene, in what is an African problem, requiring an African solution, under any circumstances.

Above all, France needs to understand clearly that it can no longer continue its brutal gang-rape of Niger (and other African nations), whose natural resources it has ruthlessly exploited for decades, at the expense of the actual resource-owners, the sovereign  people of Niger, for whom it hasn't yielded any benefits, worth speaking of, to date.

The days when valuable gold could be exchanged for worthless bric-a-brac in Africa, are over. France needs to get that.  Full stop.

If Putin's intervention in Ukraine, which is causing untold collateral-damage-suffering there, for civilians, is wrong and totally unacceptable, so is any planned intervention in Niger, by France.

 As wise and aspirational Africans, let us apply the lessons learnt from the overthrow of the former Libyan leader, the late President Gaddafi, by outside powers, in resolving this emergency. For the sake of ordinary Nigeriens, let us give peace a chance in Niger.