On Wednesday, March 21st 2012, gunfire erupted in the streets of Bamako, the capital of Mali. By the time the smoke cleared, a group of military renegades led by a Captain Amadou Sanogo, announced on state television that it had seized power from the Government of President Amadou Toumani Tuore, whose whereabouts remain unknown as at yesterday.
The coup plotters charged the deposed president with incompetence, particularly in the handling of the Tuareg rebels who were armed and funded by the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. The coup plotters claimed they were displeased that the Toure regime failed to provide the armed forces with the necessary logistical support to defend the nation's territorial integrity.
Following series of military reverses, the soldiers decided to remove the elected president who was billed to step down in April this year.Expectedly, the coup was greeted with hostility, both within and outside the country, with street protests in some towns of Mali nearly a week after.
Nigeria has also issued a public condemnation of the illegal takeover of government in a region where military rule has become outdated and unfashionable. Yesterday, the Nigerian Senate dedicated its sitting to the Mali coup; and the defeat of President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal after a protracted run-off election.
Some of the senators were so enraged that they called for a military expedition to flush out the coup plotters, while others called for caution and diplomatic handling of the situation.We, however, want to draw the attention of Nigerians and the governement to the stated reason for the coup: the inability of the Toumani Tuore regime to cope with the advancing rebels, who have been troubling the northern part of Mali for well over a decade.
This rings an ominous bell with the security situation in Nigeria. The Presidency has been treating the various threats posed to peace in the north by the Boko Haram group and the seeming renewal of militancy by a faction of MEND, with political kid gloves: it is now time to face up to the potential dangers inherent in any perceived inability of the regime to overcome the threats.
We must demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt our ability to defend the territorial integrity of this nation from internal or external threats. We must only offer dialogue to insurgents and extremists from a position of strength and dictate the terms of peace.
Nevertheless, the question of sending troops to Mali must be totally discountenanced. We have our own internal problems. We, however, advice that government, in concert with other African Union countries, should apply the necessary diplomatic pressure in pushing out the coupists.
Vanguard Nigeria