Niger's Military Take Over Was The Right Decision

I might of miscalculated

There are times when things are right in front of you but somehow you can’t see it. The military coup in Niger was one of those moments. I got everything mostly right but for some reason but I could not foresee the response.

The junta in Niger was smarter than I thought.

A convoy of French troops based in Niger drives by as they prepare to leave Niger, in Niamey, October 10, 2023. by Mahamadou Hamidou

After the coup in Niger, ECOWAS gave them an ultimatum. “You have a set amount of days to step down before we use military force”. Niger’s military is very weak and could probably be knocked down by a gust of wind, so their situation was looking bleak.

I wrote on Aug 12, 2023:

'“Before the coup Niger was part of ECOWAS which has a mutual defense agreement (attached below). What these CNSP guys could not foresee or just took the risk anyway was ECOWAS stepping in and threatening military action. Because coups have happened in two other ECOWAS countries, Mali and Burkina Faso and the group didn’t intervene. The CNSP Junta though, well… Maybe this time won’t be any different but hindsight 20/20, they were wrong.”

Actually, hindsight 20/20 I was the one that miscalculated. Whether it was because of luck or some brilliance on the side of the coup boys on gauging sentiment, ECOWAS didn’t do anything. The Niger Junta is weak militarily but you can’t lose a war that never takes place. In all honesty, my miscalculation should not have happened. I knew the current sentiment of “western” countries when it comes to “invasions”. After the Afghanistan saga “western” countries are more reluctant to put boots on the ground in other countries. Because of the US example of “losing” and more importantly they’re afraid people might call them “racist” and “colonizers”.