A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Timi Frank, has described the recent withdrawal of three member states from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, as a national disgrace and shame to Nigeria.
According to reports, the military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger had last Sunday announced their immediate withdrawal from the ECOWAS and joined forces in an Alliance of Sahel States.
The regimes have been having fractured ties with ECOWAS since coups took place in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.
The three countries were suspended from ECOWAS with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions but they had maintained their hard-line positions in recent months.
However, Frank, in a statement issued Tuesday, said Tinubu’s inability to peacefully resolve the lingering issues leading to the exit of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from the regional body was a far cry from the leadership roles his predecessors played in keeping the subregion united and peaceful.
He said: “Since assuming office as President of Nigeria, Tinubu has demonstrated his lack of nuanced understanding of regional politics and empathy for poor and suffering Nigerians – his primary constituency.
“No man can give what he does not have. His poor leadership of the regional body has led to its ongoing disintegration just as it has brought untold hardship upon Nigerians.
“Whether Tinubu likes it or not, he met the 15-member regional group established about 49 years ago intact when he assumed the reins of leadership as chairman in July 2023. But history will record that things fell apart during his ineffectual, riderless and neglectful stewardship in less than seven months.
“Your inexperience and that of those handling the economy has destroyed our economy.
Investors have refused to come into the Region and particularly in Nigeria as they are seen pulling out of Nigeria on a daily basis .
“For instance, Tinubu met the exchange rate of Naira to Dollar at about N600 to a dollar but today it is about N1,500 to a dollar.
“Besides, his knee-jerk removal of fuel subsidy has further impoverished Nigerians with people finding it difficult to feed or afford skyrocketing transport fares.
“Above all, insecurity is on the increase with the nation’s capital – FCT – and other parts of the country rendered increasingly unsafe by incessant kidnappings and gruesome killings.”