NADECO USA CONGRATULATES KATHLEEN FITZGIBBON ON HER NEW APPOINTMENT
Iroyinominira
8th September, 2023
Dear Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon:
On behalf of NADECO USA, we congratulate you on your well-deserved appointment as the United States of America's envoy to one of the Sahel countries, Niger whose democratically elected president, Mohammed Baszoum was removed by the country's military. Your appointment by the Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, to the Republic of Niger is not only timely, but of utmost importance looking at your track record of the wealth of nation-building experience, and international diplomacy.
First, NADECO USA wishes to state unequivocally clear that we do not endorse or believe in any military takeover or interference as a means of change in government, rather we believe in the constitutional change of government through the instrumentality of democratic best practices as practiced around the world in the freeworld. As you are aware, NADECO needs no introduction to you as Nigeria’s foremost and premier pro-democracy group that fought vehemently for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria during the dreaded Abacha days. At that time you were head of the Political Bureau in Nigeria.
The US diplomatic mission in Niger Republic to bolster efforts to help resolve the political crisis at this critical time in the history of the political structure and architecture of Africa demands that you understand the pulse, yearnings, and minds of the aborigines and minoritized local dwellers in Niger that have equally reverberated to the other regions of Africa. A "glocalized" understanding of the situation on the ground would help in propounding cerebral and enduring solutions to the imminent military disaster looming in the region.
It is our firm belief at NADECO that as a career senior diplomat with significant experience specializing in West Africa, you are indeed not only uniquely positioned to lead the US government efforts in support of the American community and the preservation of Niger's hard-democracy, but also to furnish the White House with feedbacks laden with existential realities that are typical with the everyday true yearnings and notions of the people across the African continent.
As you travel to Niamey, you need to arm yourself with uncommon political facts that are not on the mainstream media that would help you have informed discourse with the junta which has determined to hold on to power, hence our request for a meeting with NADECO.
We understand that your visit to Niger is not a bid to change the US policy position about coup d'etats, rather that your diplomatic focus will be to advocate for a diplomatic solution that preserves constitutional order in Niger, and for the immediate release of President Baszoum, his family, and all those unlawfully detained. This of course is a legitimate diplomatic demand.
The crisis in Niger does not need an American solution, military solution or western solution, it needs a "glocalized solution", that is Afrocentric, and based on Africanity, Afrokological and Ubuntu ideologies.
Our local intel has it that any use of force will have a bad blowback, not just in Niger, but in the whole of Africa. The ripple effect would be felt even in the Global North.
America's diplomatic attachment and affinity to the French is making the US increasingly unpopular in Nigeria and the region. You have a lot of work to do in regaining the US's respect in the subregion, and we can help in this aspect. Majority of Nigerians (elites and average class) see it as an American and French war with Russia using ECOWAS as the puppet. The Northern part of Nigeria, which has cultural, traditional, ancestral and religious affinity and ties with Niger sees it as a declaration of war on their cultural, religious and ancestral heritage. Some African countries are currently planning a severance from Nigeria if the war starts. So it's dicey.
NADECO USA as a stakeholder in this crisis, therefore, requests a meeting with you on how to best approach the crisis in Niger diplomatically. Your earliest response would help us plan our calendar.
Again, congratulations on this tall responsibility that has been saddled on you!
Lloyd F. Ukwu, Esquire
Executive Director,
NADECO USA.
Comrade David Adenekan
Publicity Secretary, NADECO USA
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- 13 Sep, 2023
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