Niger Crisis: The war is a trap - FFK makes U-turn says President Tinubu shouldn't go to war

Femi Fani, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned against the deployment of Nigerian troops to Niger after standby troops were ordered by a resolution of the Head of State of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

According to Fani-Kayode, going to war with Niger and destroying the country will feed into the longstanding goal of the "French imperialist" whose goal is to destroy Niger.

The ex-minister advised that the support of the Western country is a "trap & we must ensure that our newly-elected President does not fall into it" adding that "to do the dirty work for a nation that stood on the wrong side during our civil war & that almost pushed us into a war with the Cameroons over the Bakassi Peninsular is deeply insultng to our sensibilities."

He made this known in a lengthy post on his Instagram handle.

"Deploying our troops into our neigbours country in an attempt to effect regime-change on behalf of a bunch of power-obsessed, butt-f*cking, c*nt-struck feral psychopaths like the French whose primary dream & fantasy has always been the dismemberment, destabilisation & destruction of Nigeria is asinine & unacceptable.

To do the dirty work for a nation that stood on the wrong side during our civil war & that almost pushed us into a war with the Cameroons over the Bakassi Peninsular is deeply insultng to our sensibilities.

I do not support military Governments & I cannot abide or stomach the way in which Niger, Mali & Burkina Faso have threatened, insulted & made mockery of our nation & people over the last few days but one thing is clear: the military regimes in all of those three countries are wildly popular & the hatred for France in each of them is palpable & irreversible.

Why should we get involved in all this? This is not our fight & if we choose to stand on the side of the French imperialists, neo-colonialists & oppressors against the will of the people of these three sovereign nations it may well result in chaos, mutiny, rebellion & a revolution in our own country.

This must be avoided. It is time to get sense & sheath our swords. This whole thing is obviously a western conspiracy & trap & we must ensure that our newly-elected President does not fall into it.

This is the time for restraint & wise counsel to prevail. This is the time for us to put our national interest before that of any other.

This is the time for us to indulge in some sober reflection and reject any gung-ho & bellicose action that would ultimately result in a reversal of the great strides that we have made as a nation over the last 24 years & the destruction of our great country"- FFK

His statement is in sharp contrast to his earlier posture where he warned some countries, including Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso not to wake Nigeria’s sleeping sword lightly, insisting that they should think twice before threatening Nigeria with war.

Recall Fani-Kayode claimed that the country almost singlehandedly confronted and contained ISWAP and Boko Haram and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, with its Eastern Security Network, ESN, noting that Nigeria still stands undeterred and strong.

The Ex-Minister reaction follows viral videos of Nigerien, Burkinabe and Malian soldiers marching and chanting war songs against Nigeria while being applauded and egged on by ecstatic French-speaking crowds who reigned curses on the nation’s president.