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Former minister raises alarm, says wave of coups around Nigeria is a grave risk

Former minister of aviation, Ostia Chidoka, has warned that a growing wave of military coups around Nigeria poses a serious threat to the country’s security and stability.

Chidoka said the military takeover in Niger republic has already worsened insecurity in Nigeria’s northeast and northwest.

He said Niger made notable economic and social progress before the coup, adding that per capita income grew by 26 percent over the last decade.

He said the World Bank projected 7 percent growth in 2023 and 12.5 percent in 2024 before the takeover, noting that inflation stood at four percent, the lowest in the regional monetary union.

Chidoka said the situation deteriorated rapidly after the coup, stating that an additional 600,000 people now need humanitarian aid, bringing the total to 4.3 million.

He said extreme poverty has risen to 52 percent and about 370,000 people, mostly women and children, are internally displaced.

The former minister said food prices have surged, with rice up 35 percent and other grains rising by more than 12 percent, adding that Niger defaulted on $519 million in debt and missed four repayments.

He said the 2024 growth forecast was almost halved, while military spending oversight has been scrapped, widening corruption.

He added: “ISWAP corridors stretch from Mali to Niger and Nigeria, extending toward the Gulf of Guinea. Our 1,500 km border with Niger is now a porous pipeline for weapons, fighters, kidnappers, and traffickers.
“The humanitarian collapse in Niger spills into our fragile northern states. Our security crisis worsened after the coup, not before it.
“If Benin, already under jihadist pressure, falls to a coup, Nigeria’s western flank will tear open. We would be fighting on four fronts: the Northwest, Northeast, North Central, and the West African coast.
“Those who preach “sovereignty” forget a truism: a burning neighbourhood does not respect your fence.
Coups in the Sahel do not stay “internal.”
“They create ungoverned spaces where extremists grow, recruit, and migrate. Niger’s collapse is already feeding Nigeria’s insecurity. If this domino of coups continues, Boko Haram will look like child’s play.
“Some intelligence and projections are too sensitive to publish, but the trend is unmistakable. West Africa is drifting into dangerous waters. Nigeria cannot pretend it is someone else’s storm.
“I support military action in Benin, but the President must obtain Senate approval, even if rules must be amended for the sake of national security.”

The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.