Niger coup: Don’t allow US, France push you to unnecessary war, Orji Kalu tells Tinubu

• Senator Kalu urges President Tinubu to resist US and France’s pressure for military action in Niger, emphasising avoiding war
• He proposes giving Juntas time to present a democratic transition plan instead and warns against risking Nigerian lives for foreign conflicts

Orji Uzor Kalu, the senator representing Abia North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to allow the United States of America (USA) and France to compel him to launch military action against the Niger Republic’s Junta.

This appeal comes after ECOWAS declared immediate military action against the Junta during a Thursday summit in Abuja, Nigeria.

The former Senate majority whip expressed his concerns during an interview that he posted on his verified Facebook page.

According to him, both the United States and France want Nigeria to join the war, but the President should ignore their wishes because going to war is not the best option.

The United States wants us to go to war. France wants us to go to war. Why don’t they put their soldiers and go to war? We will give them the money to fight. Let them go to war on their own. We can not go to war. This war is in our backyard. I plead with the president to listen to the voice of the Senate. The Senate has said no and I’m joining the Senate and I join the majority of Nigerians telling President Tinubu not to go to war for the sake of brotherhood and the sake of Africa, he said.

Kalu advised that instead of resorting to war, the focus should be on giving the Juntas a specific time frame to present a plan outlining how they intend to return to democracy.

I don’t think it is a good idea to go to war. What they should tell the Juntas to do now is to give us a Democratic transition plan for one year, six months or two years to return to democracy, he said.

He emphasized that the war has no connection to Nigerians, adding that no Nigerian soldier should lose their life due to this conflict.

I don’t think any Nigerian soldier’s death is good enough to be killed for another country. It is not our war. It is an internal problem of the Niger people. We have nothing to gain.

However, he disclosed that if not going to the war will cost Nigeria her membership in ECOWAS, President Tinubu should be ready to withdraw from the organization.

He said;

Nobody should attempt to take us into war. We cannot go to war with Naija at all. If it means pulling out of ECOWAS, Nigeria should pull out of ECOWAS if that is ECOWAS’s decision. We are a sovereign nation. Nobody can toil with 250 million Nigerians. It is not possible.