The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu of mishandling diplomatic relations, claiming this contributed to the exit of Sahel nations Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made this known during an appearance on Politics Today, a programme aired on Channels Television, where he addressed the growing insecurity across West Africa.
According to Abdullahi, the departure of the three countries followed what he described as a breakdown in cooperation after the current administration took office. He argued that what was once a united regional effort to combat terrorism has now deteriorated into fragmented, self-serving approaches, allowing insecurity to worsen.
“Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso left ECOWAS because President Tinubu came and mismanaged the relationship.
“What used to be joint collaboration to fight terrorism in the Sahel region became ‘all man for himself,’ and terrorism prospered.
“The global terrorism index 2025, Nigeria ranked fourth in the list of the most terrorized countries in the world. Pakistan tops the table, followed by Burkina Faso and Niger Republic, while Nigeria is number four.
“Take Pakistan out and look at the other countries on the table. These are ECOWAS countries. These are countries that used to work together to fight terrorism.
“So what the ADC is saying is that the foundation for fighting terrorism in Nigeria must be drawn from our ability to build relationships with our neighborhood.
“The ability of Nigeria to play any leadership role within the West Africa region depends on Nigeria’s ability to protect and defend its own people.
“As long as Nigeria is not able to protect and defend its own people, it cannot lead any claim to leadership in West African region or Africa as a whole,” Abdullahi stated.
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