By Emeka Obasi

Niger as battle ground is sweet music to the ears of President Alassane Dramane Ouattara whose goal is to divert attention from his contentious third term in Cote d’Ivoire and keep war away from his country through neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea respectively.

When Ouattara boldly announced in Nigeria that ECOWAS leaders were battle ready to restore Mohamed Bazoum to power in Niger he meant every word that came out of his mouth. “We are determined to restore president Bazoum to his functions”, the Ivorian leader said.

ECOWAS chairman, Bola Tinubu, was yet to announce a Foreign Minister when he summoned his colleagues to Abuja. I believe Ouattara exploited that lacuna to hoodwink some of the presidents with the promise that his country would raise a Battalion to support the proposed regional strike force.

What should border Tinubu is why Ouattara did not call for ECOMOG when the military struck in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea respectively. These countries share common borders with Cote d’Ivoire. Charity, they say, begins at home.

The reason is simple. Burkina Faso means a lot to Ouattara. Many Ivorians are so sure that his parents were Burkinabe. When Ouattara ran into political windstorm, the Ouagadougou Accords made it possible for him to contest the November 2010 presidential elections in Cote d’Ivoire.

Ouattara was the presumed winner of the elections, but Laurent Gbagbo refused to step aside. The crisis that erupted claimed over 3,000 lives. A Transition arrangement that saw Gbagbo as president and Guillaume Soro, guerilla leader of Forces Nouvelles ( New Forces) serving as prime minister restored calm.

Before assuming office as president in 2011, Ouattara was part of the political sore in his country. Brought back home by Father of the Nation, Felix Houphouet Boigny, to shore up the economy, the former began to nurse deeper political ambitions.