I was shocked to read in the news about the deployment of Nigerian soldiers as part of the ECOWAS Mission to The Gambia for peacekeeping. I couldn’t help but wonder why troops are being sent to our country, which remains more peaceful than Nigeria itself. These men in uniform are needed far more in their own country than in The Gambia.
I am not fully aware of the terms or details of the agreement between ECOWAS and the Gambian government regarding the deployment of its soldiers, but I do know that the issues necessitating their presence were long resolved after former President Yahya Jammeh left for Equatorial Guinea in 2017, following his refusal to step down.
Nigeria has been struggling with jihadism and armed banditry for decades, and as a result, these soldiers are much more needed there than in The Gambia, a country that, since the infamous 1981 foiled coup attempt, has not experienced any bloody war.
I fear this deployment may portray our country as unstable to the world, when in reality we remain stable despite some ongoing security challenges affecting the public on a daily basis.
For these reasons, I believe ECOWAS needs to focus on addressing the many pressing issues affecting its member states across the region, rather than chasing a long-resolved matter.
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I was shocked to read in the news about the deployment of Nigerian soldiers as part of the ECOWAS Mission to The Gambia for peacekeeping. I couldn’t help but wonder why troops are being sent to our country, which remains more peaceful than Nigeria itself. These men in uniform are needed far more in their own country than in The Gambia.
I am not fully aware of the terms or details of the agreement between ECOWAS and the Gambian government regarding the deployment of its soldiers, but I do know that the issues necessitating their presence were long resolved after former President Yahya Jammeh left for Equatorial Guinea in 2017, following his refusal to step down.
Nigeria has been struggling with jihadism and armed banditry for decades, and as a result, these soldiers are much more needed there than in The Gambia, a country that, since the infamous 1981 foiled coup attempt, has not experienced any bloody war.
I fear this deployment may portray our country as unstable to the world, when in reality we remain stable despite some ongoing security challenges affecting the public on a daily basis.
For these reasons, I believe ECOWAS needs to focus on addressing the many pressing issues affecting its member states across the region, rather than chasing a long-resolved matter.
Adama Makasuba
Concerned citizen