After months of denial, Nigeria has officially announced the withdrawal of much of her 1200-strong contingent from peacekeeping operations in Mali, and Sudan to help a severely-depleted force back home confront the deadly insurgent group, Boko Haram.
ECOWAS Chairman, President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire, said on Thursday he had received a notification from President Goodluck Jonathan about the decision to send the troops home "because of the domestic situation in the country".
"I received a letter from President Goodluck Jonathan that because of domestic situation in Nigeria part of the troops will be withdrawn," Mr. Ouattara said on Thursday at the end of a two-day 43rd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Abuja. "Nigeria needs some of its people but not all are being withdrawn."
The announcement confirmed previous reports by PREMIUM TIMES on the planned withdrawal, and reflected how Nigerian officials lied about the strength of the troops apparently overstretched by months of campaign against Boko Haram militants, mainly in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
PREMIUM TIMES' reports were forcefully faulted by government and military officials who claimed that despite the sweeping military operations that drew up thousands of personnel from several other states, the nation remained with a sufficient military capacity to enforce internal security.
The officials have denied well-investigated reports by PREMIUM TIMES about the deplorable welfare of the troops in Mali, many who were not properly fed and compensated.
The denial about the declining troop strength was however confirmed by the Senate in its report of investigation into the killings in Baga, Borno state nearly a month ago.
The Senate said its investigation established that the Nigerian military was "severely stretched by the fighting with Boko Haram", and called for immediate recruitment of soldiers.
It was not immediately clear how many troops would be withdrawn from Mali. But Reuters news agency quoted a foreign diplomat in Nigeria as saying infantry units will be going home while engineers and signals operators would be amongst those left behind.
The news agency also quoted the United Nations peacekeeping department as confirming that Nigeria would also withdraw some of its troops from the U.N.-African Union force UNAMID in Sudan's conflict-torn Western Darfur region as well.
"We can confirm that Nigeria has officially notified (U.N. peacekeeping) of its intention to withdraw some of its troops – up to two battalions – from UNAMID," said U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Kieran Dwyer. The United Nations was in discussions with other countries to replace the Nigerians, she said.
The withdrawal from Mali comes as the country prepares for elections for a legitimate government. Mr Ouattara said the polls will hold on the set dates and assured of the region's support for the process.
"Mali is ready for elections; you do not have perfect elections because there are problems. `Mali needs a legitimate government and they should have this election on July 28 for the first round and Aug. 11 for the second," Mr. Ouattara said.
"By the end of August, we would have a democratically elected government, "he said.
The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government also came up with decisions to tackle the recurrence of crises in the sub-region.
The Authority of Heads of State and Government instructed the ECOWAS commission to expedite action on the review of peace and security in the region to prevent recurring crises situations.
The Authority noted that a review of the regional peace and security framework would also focus on preventive measures and "rapid military response capability".
It commended the effort of the Malian government and people for the efforts to ensure a peaceful transition and appealed to all political parties and candidates to "demonstrate self-restraint, accept the outcome of the polls and resort to legal means if disputes arise".
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As the old adage says, "Charity begins at home" therefore, Nigeria should put out the fire in its own house first before "stretching" itself hauling the log in someone else eyes. Let the Human Rights Watch & Amnesty International send their troops to coddle the terrorist in Mali and Niger the same way the UN has been "keeping the peace" in the Congo for how many decades now - 50 years of un-dending war? Why are the French deserting their colony once again, (as they did in Vietnam for the US to get bogged down in a 20-year Vietnam War) after their half-ass, vain-glorious 6-month intervention? It's just a matter of time before the same whack-a-mole heats up in the Sahel. Good thinking, Naija! Goodluck, Ouattara!