BY JIBRIL TURE

A steaming-hot new press release from the Office of the U.S. State Department’s spokesperson, Mathew Miller, announced just two hours ago this morning that a new U.S. Ambassador has arrived in Niger, against the backdrop of the lingering chaos that resulted from the July 26, 2023 coup which toppled the democratically-elected president of the country, Mohamed Bazoum.

According to the press release, “Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon has traveled to Niamey to lead our diplomatic mission in Niger and bolster efforts to help resolve the political crisis at this critical time.” Unlike Victoria Nuland, U.S. Acting Deputy Secretary of State, who visited the country twelve days ago, Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon—who is described in the press release as “a career senior diplomat with significant experience specializing in West Africa,”—is not in Niamey for a short-term visit. She is expected to present her credentials at some point in the future. “Due to the current political crisis in Niger, Ambassador FitzGibbon will not formally present credentials,” the press release states.

By sending a new envoy to Niger, the United States seems to favor a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The press release made clear the new U.S. ambassador’s “diplomatic focus will be to advocate for a diplomatic solution that preserves constitutional order in Niger and for the immediate release of President Bazoum, his family, and all those unlawfully detained.”

The arrival of Washington’s new envoy to Niger coincides with a massive diplomatic mission in the country led by the United Nations, and a separate one by a delegation of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS. According to the mid-day edition of Radio France International’s news cast for Africa, “Afrique Midi,” the president of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, who strongly advocated for a diplomatic solution, played a critical role in the meeting planned between the junta and the West African diplomats. It is to be noted that during their previous trip to Niamey, Niger’s capital, the West African diplomats meeting with members of the junta (without the junta’s leader Abdourahmane Tchiani) took place at the airport. The talks are now expected to take place in a more appropriate venue.

That, however, has not stopped the region’s military leaders from continuing to brandish the military threat. According to RFI’s today’s “Afrique Midi,” the said military leaders have set a day for the military strike. With the steadfast opposition of most of West African leaders to the use of military force, and while the economic sanctions are badly affecting the entire West African region, the leaders of the discredited ECOWAS appear to be going against the tide.

U.S. leaders appear to have chosen the diplomatic approach more than a week ago, consistently with the views expressed by several opinion leaders, including former veteran Ambassador Omar Arouna.

To read more, click here