Femi Falana, a renowned Nigerian lawyer and former chairman of the West African Bar Association (WBA), has demanded the immediate lifting of the sanctions imposed on Niger by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), following that organization’s decision to cease using force to overthrow the military coup in Niamey.
Falana who was the keynote speaker at the West Africa Civil Society Week’23 on Tuesday, while speaking on the theme: Civil Society in West Africa: Reimagining the Role of the Third Sector in protecting civil space and consolidation democracy for regional development, noted that civil society organizations should reclaim their mandate of standing and speaking for the rights of the masses, and the promotion and sustainability of democracy.
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“ECOWAS should therefore approve the proposal for two terms for presidents. And since she has opted for dialogue in the military junta in Niger, as proposed to three-year military transition, the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS should be lifted as a matter of urgency and electricity should be restored by Nigeria,” Falana advised.
Suggesting ways to end uprisings in West Africa, especially coup d’états, he called on ECOWAS to end the stealing of mineral resources by imperialism, and as a matter of urgency launch the single currency to be used by the continent, among other factors that he raised.
