London Uses Nigeria and Ghana to Attack the AES and BRICS

image: Niamey, Niger 2023 `Down with France Long Live Putin`

by PD Lawton                   22 Feb 2026

Old habits like old colonial ties die hard and the Globalists are setting their sights on destroying the emergence of the American System of Political Economy in Africa which is evident in the 3 countries of  the Alliance of Sahelian States ( AES) in that they are implementing the pillars of national sovereignty.

The AES states all have good relations with Russia as well as China. Burkina Faso and Russia share a particularly warm relationship. Russia is assisting militarily and they have recently signed a contract for closer cooperation in all areas which will include the construction of a nuclear power plant which will be the first in West Africa and provide energy sovereignty and of course the electricity needed for a strong manufacturing base, electrified railways, and all economic and social requirements to achieve a modern industrialized economy.

image: St Petersburg 2023 Chairman of the State Duma, Volodin, and President of the Burkina Faso Legislative Assembly, Ousmane Bougouma, at the second Russia-Africa Humanitarian and Economic Summit 

The Globalists and their Rules Based Order of neo-liberalism and  synthetic democratic systems are gnashing their teeth at what is happening in West Africa, not to mention the seismic changes taking place in America . Their Empire is in disarray.

London`s Jihadist foot soldiers having been cultivated and nurtured in Nigeria, are now being seriously challenged in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Macron`s France has a bad odour these days in its former colonies. ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, remains the old standby mechanism through which London can exert control but the economic bloc has recently shrunk with the permanent withdrawal of the AES states.

In January 2025, the AES officially exited ECOWAS following the disgraceful blockade on Mali which restricted fuel and food from entering the country following the coup, the trade and logistics sanctions placed on all 3 States following military coups  and Nigeria`s attempted invasion of Niger which was exposed by Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin following Niger`s coup.

The AES has  withdrawn from the Globalist kangaroo court of the ICC ( International Criminal Court) in September 2025 acusing it of selective justice and double standards as did the Republic of Burundi in 2017.

London is resorting to using ECOWAS and the toothless, gutless African Union (AU) to undermine genuine and meaningful revolution in Africa. The AU is a miserable, weak shadow of what it was founded as in 1963 when under the Casablanca bloc, Gamal Nasser, Kwame Nkrumah, Sékou Touré , Modiba Keita and other great African  leaders strove for rapid economic industrialization and the end of colonial imperialism. Those leaders looked to JFK`s America as the model of economic prosperity and sovereign nationhood. But all was to change with the assassination of Kennedy and the African road to its rightful place in the world, made so much harder and longer.

image: Presidents JFK and Kwame Nkrumah shared visionary ideas for the African continent

The AU, in full compliance with its main sponsor, the European Union, has condemned the AES as disruptive and cause for concern. The Jihadist terrorism present across the Sahel is being attributed to the AES`s inability to counter it, according to them. No word comes from the AU about  Operation Barkhane  and the growth of  terrorism enabled by the French military presence, UN Peacekeeping missions, USAID and the NGO and NPO industry.

The AU suspended Mali following the coup in August 2020. Burkina Faso was suspended after the coup in January 2022 and Niger was suspended following the coup in July 2023.

Military coups are not in line with the AU’s foundational principles outlined by the Lomé Declaration and African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which place democratic constitutional governance as the foundational human right. The UN`s policy of multilateralism means we must all work together  for the common good of the Rules Based Order and adhere to common policy to solve common problems such as climate change, terrorism, and pandemics. However, it is increasingly obvious that the apparent dangers that mulilateralism is supposed to contain are invented bogeymen, invented by the Globalists themselves.

In suspending Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the AU affirms that it places multilateralism over national sovereignty which is of course, the whole idea of Globalism.

The European Union is the largest donor to the African Union with its flagship infrastructure development program the Global Gateway Investment Package for Africa (GGI) which mostly resembles theoretical infrastructure.

image : the EU and AU flags

The AU states on its website that :

“It is heavily dependent on donor funding to run its programs and operations, and this is further compounded by the fact that >40% of Member States do not pay their yearly contributions to the institution.”

How can the AU speak of sovereignty and defending the will of the people when it remains funded by foreign interests?

At the AU Summit in Addis Ababa in February 2026 the AU condemned the AES as regressive and stated that terrorism within the AES region is increasing.. The Western mainstream media and security study institutes like the South African ISS continue failing to report that the AES, in particular Burkina Faso, are making substantial gains in reclaiming territory from the Jihadist forces.

Burkina Faso have gone from roughly 35% to 74% in gaining territorial control and yet this is called regression. As pointed out by Frontline Africa:

“That is precisely why many Africans now reject the premise that the African Union still gets to decide reality for Africa……where a few selected elites decide what counts as progress and what counts as failure and what counts as legitimate government”

video: BREAKING: AFRICAN UNION DROPS BOMBSHELL ON SAHEL ALLIANCE : 12/02/26 : Frontline Africa

Will the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) which oversees ECOWAS be further used to counter attack the AES `s joint military forces that are are countering Jihadi terrorism?

Amani Africa is a Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded think tank. As it clearly itself states, Amani Africa directs the decision making of the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC)  :

“This is our flagship work that offers most current information and impartial analysis on the items on the agenda of the sessions of the PSC. It is produced and shared ahead of each session of the PSC to inform the preparation and deliberation of members of the PSC.”

Armani Africa states that ECOWAS has activated its standby force which was previously called ECOMOG  to combat the growing threat and regional insecurity:

“Terrorism and violent extremism are increasingly spreading from the Sahel states to coastal West Africa with a surge of cross-border attacks affecting several countries, including Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo, among others. In light of this development, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has decided to activate its standby force to combat the growing threat and regional insecurity. This issue was also raised during a meeting between the PSC and the ECOWAS mediation and Security Council in May, in which the two sides agreed to expedite the operationalisation of the AU Standby Force and the ECOWAS Standby Force.” Source

ECOMOG : The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States. ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work together. It was largely supported by personnel and resources of the Nigerian Armed Forces, with sub-battalion strength units contributed by other ECOWAS members — Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Liberia, and others. Source

Considering the role of foreign interests across the board of the African Union and considering the leverage that the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs  has over AU Peace keeping it is no wonder that the AES States have all expelled Norwegian representatives. The AES have expelled not just French and Norwegian representatives but all Western diplomatic personnel.

They have recognized the duplicitous nature of the United Nations humanitarian envoys and international relief agencies.

General Assimi Goïta of Mali told the UN Peace keeping Mission to withdraw immediately following the last coup.  The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was present since April 2013 and left as of 31 December 2023.

Carol Flore-Smereczniak the UN`s top official was expelled by Burkina Faso in August 2025 after she compiled a disinformation report on child human rights abuses within the country in which she claims that the Burkinabe forces and civil defence are responsible along with the Jihadist terrorists.

In 2025 Niger expelled the Internal Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC) accusing it of :

“On Saturday, 31 May, the Nigerien government communicated publicly on the ICRC’s expulsion from the country, accusing the organization of “collusion” with armed groups.”

Numerous NGOs have been banned from the AES states for formal breaches or national security.

ECOWAS is lead by Nigeria and Ghana

Ghana has for many years played the lead in UN Counter Terrorism operations in West Africa and the maritime monitoring of the Gulf of Guinea. 

Ghana is supported by the EU for regional intelligence gathering.

Since the contested election of President Buhari in Nigeria, Boko Haram was allowed to resurge and Islamic extremism has grown exponentially since 2015.  { see article on this website : Boko Haram, a Golden Commercial Venture}

The following is a video and transcribed excerpt from the speech by Prime Minister of Niger, Lamine Zeine Ali Mahaman, to the UN GA September 2025. Prime Minister Mahaman begins his speech by explaining that in an extreme environment like the Sahel people are bound together by necessity and through ancestral values. He explains that division, terrorism is not indigenous and has never been a part of life in the Sahel. It is a speech certainly worth listening to! ( My apologies for any mis-spelling of place names and Nigerien languages)

video: Excerpt from the speech by Prime Minister of Niger Lamine Zeine Ali Mahaman to the UN GA September 2025

“Much like Niger firmly condemns the Israeli aggression against Iran and Qatar, we also rise up against the trivialization of violence in the DRC, in Sudan and in the Sahel. While the international community looks on indifferent and in fact some elements of the international community, some foreign powers are complicit in what’s happening in the African continent.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, actors directly getting involved in conflicts are not the only ones responsible for the insecurity and uncertainty our world faces today. Niger would also like to denounce the inaction of all those who do have the means to act to promote truth and peace. The silence of those who do have a voice, the indifference of those egoists who stand ready to destabilize entire countries or regions in their own interests. The lack of humanism on the part of those who work in underhand ways to sow death in other countries and the foolishness of those who betray their motherland and their continent.

President, ladies and gentlemen, inaction, indifference, complicit silence as well as subversive and underhand actions to destabilize the situation, violent disinformation campaigns, information wars. This is the reality that my country and the confederation of Sahel States, the ASS are facing as we combat imported terrorism backed by sponsors. Niger in particular has been living through this since the 26th of July 2023. That is the date when the sovereign people of Niger decided to take destiny into their own hands.

We must grasp the complexity of the tragedy unfurling in this Sahel. The challenges it throws up the ins and outs. This is necessary to understand not only the game various actors are playing but also the determination of our people and their governments to fight for victory to tackle this challenge regardless of the time and the sacrifice this will require. We will be defending our countries to ensure our survival. We will be defending our territory and our people.

Madame President, ladies and gentlemen, the usual narrative states that the situation in the Sahel can be explained away by the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011 and the collapse of the Libyan state which resulted in armed groups being unleashed in our region and large quantities of weapons flowing into that same region. Others might mention the victory of the people of Algeria, a victory over terrorism which they achieved in the 1990s which as a result pushed the conflict to the Sahel as terrorists found refuge in the Sahara and the Sahel. We must add to that the indisputable fact that as Western powers and armies set up shop in the Sahel countries in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in particular to supposedly help these countries to combat terrorism. What we actually saw is terrorist phenomena in the region expand and intensify.

Furthermore, it is also held up as an indisputable truth that the true, the main leaders of these terrorist movements do not come from the Sahel.

It’s also necessary to underscore that they have vast logistical means, a specific modus operandi and exhibit blind unheard of violence which is completely foreign to our geographical and cultural space.

Indeed, our countries throughout our history have known wars in the name of religion. We’ve seen rebellions, but we’ve never seen such bloody, gratuitous, indiscriminate violence on a scale that we are experiencing now. For all of the above reasons, I’m sure you’ll agree that this is deliberately imported terrorism that we’re facing.

Madame President, this is also sponsored terrorism and this throws up the actual genuine issue of terrorism financing and the destination of all of the resources terrorists have been capturing for over a decade now. How can we understand the fact that terrorists have maintained the war effort over such a long period of time?

We must also point out the happy coincidence which saw in Kidal in Mali a stronghold for terrorists liberated in the third trimester or quarter of 2023 at the same time when the French army was leaving the Niger. The government of Niger much like those of Mali and Burkina Faso regularly informed international public opinion of the evidence we’ve collected, evidence of the involvement of a number of foreign powers in the destabilization of the Alliance of Sahel States and of the support they’re providing to terrorists.

Madame President, ladies and gentlemen, speaking from this rostrum, I’d like to condemn the self-avowed support of France to terrorism in the Sahel and in particular, in Niger.

Indeed, since French troops were cast out from Niger in 2023, as announced, the government of France has established a subversive underhand plan to destabilize my country. It involves sending intelligence to, training, funding, and equipping terrorists, unfortunate attempts to create the conditions for inter-ethnic conflicts in Niger and in the Sahel a disinformation and misinformation campaign to discredit my country our institutions our political leaders and our army.

France has also maintained and fueled ongoing political tensions between my country and some of our neighbors. On top of that we must mention the economic and financial war an unprecedented war which betrays France`s hateful desire to thwart any and all of our development projects by dis-incentivizing investment and systematically voting against my country in all international financial institutions whether that be the African Development Bank, the World Bank or the IMF.

Madame President, ladies and gentlemen, what’s happening today in our region in the Sahel and specifically in Niger is the result of a number of factors.

First, unpaid colonial debts. These debts must be paid off. Our people never forgot the unheard of violence which characterized the colonial occupation. The infamous Voulet–Chanoine Mission mission and other military expeditions which stood out because of all the death and the large-scale torture which they unleashed in terror in Junu ,in Duchi, in Koni, in Tessawa and in Zinda and this in a matter of years. In Zinda as you know there were even executions.

Madam President ladies and gentlemen speaking from this august rostrum my country Niger entreats the world’s conscience to point out this hostile force which has since the 19th century never laid down its arms and which continues to wage total war against my country. Here is evidence of this. In November 2021 in Terra, young demonstrators were assassinated by the French army. The threat of military intervention on the part of ECOWAS has been instrumentalised by France. We must call a spade a spade. The abject terrorism behind which France stands committing vile crimes in the ASS. For instance, those committed in  Fambita on the 21st of March 2025,44 Muslims were executed in cold blood while they were at Friday prayers.

This rostrum also gives me an opportunity to pay a tribute and to think about all of the civilians and the soldiers who gave their lives shot down by the enemy. These crimes remind us of those committed by France in Niger and this ever since 1899, crimes which remain an open wound on our collective memory. In in the name of human rights, I recall the innocent victims of the Central African Mission.

I recall cities and villages which were pillaged and set on fire. I recall the carnage in Jundu and Lugu. I recall martyr cities Korin Kargo where the population was entirely exterminated. In Birni-N’Konni where over 7,000 people were thrown into mass graves. I’m recalling pregnant women eviscerated, their fetuses left for the vultures to claim. I speak on behalf of raped women and hanged little girls. I speak on behalf of men shot dead and members of the resistance decapitated. On behalf of my country, Niger, I solemnly demand that France shoulders its duty of remembrance to shoulder its duty of remembrance and to recognize its crimes to recognize its crimes.

On this note, General Tchiani  has established a commission of experts, academics, and scientists to study these dark pages in our history and to rewrite the true history of our country, to set the record straight, to speak the truth, to reclaim ownership of our history, and to give back to our great nation its dignity.

The pillage of our resources to the detriment of Nigerians and the environment. Following half a century of exploitation, uranium has brought our people nothing but misery, pollution, rebellion, corruption, and despair while the French prospered and bolstered their power. All of our aquifers are contaminated. It’s unacceptable. Also, since the advent of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland and the decision taken by our government to exercise its sovereignty over its resources, the French government, dismayed, has tried to drag us into endless legal proceedings before it will stop exploiting and selling our minerals.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to be clear that rather than breaking our spirit, the struggles we’ve had to face have only strengthened our determination to fight to the end, to vanquish the terrorists and their sponsors. We can already take pride in some structural achievements that we have seen. What the people of Niger have been successful in since the 26th of July 2023 with the National Council taking power is to put our country on a new trajectory which is a source of great hope. Success means casting away from our country the forces that were hampering our sovereignty and were preventing our forces of defense and security from equipping themselves with the means to fulfill their missions. This is something we have to do. Success also means breaking with all of the unfair conventions, treaties, and laws that were not in the interest of Niger. This is a strong sign for all of those who are accustomed to looting Niger that now our country will defend its interests unashamedly. Success also means reaffirming our sovereignty over our natural resources which had all too long been plundered by foreign powers.

Success also means uniting our people on questions of national interest. Now all the people of Niger are united. They are focused on safeguarding our country’s best interests. They’ve understood that the battle is a collective matter. That is why we have a new motto “labursani nor” in Zama, “zanchin kinshasa ne” in Hausa and “halaleon” in Fulfulde. This means “ this is our business and our business alone”. Success also means awakening our patriotism which had all too long been trampled upon by individuals acting in their personal interests. Now the people of Niger are proud of their fatherland. Success also means sincere support from the people to the government. People are now fully behind our efforts to put our country on the path to development. This also means that Niger can stand on its own two feet, can stand up to and vanquish terrorism, can protect its sovereignty, can invest in the country’s future, in a nutshell, can live without the so-called foreign assistance which has so often in the past been used to threaten and humiliate us.

Success also means that for the first time in our country’s history, decisions affecting Niger and our people are taken in Niger by the people of Niger and in the interest of Niger and nowhere else. That is what has allowed us in spite of the difficult circumstances that we’re all aware of to take social measures which are both robust and symbolic which include lowering the price of petrol and gasoline. Reducing the costs of some medical and surgical services. Reducing school fees and making sure that basic goods are affordable.

Madame President, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, Niger is well on the way to a new model of governance. This approach was built upon in the conference that was held, the national conference held in Niamey from the 15th to the 20th of February this year, which brought together all of the forces of the nation. This led to the adoption of significant recommendations and the drafting of a reform charter for our country. In line with the charter, it also allowed us to progressively establish our institutions such as the reform council, the state court, the audit court, the commission to combat economic, financial and fiscal crimes, the national communication unit, and the authority for regulation of public procurement.

Next, in the diplomatic domain, Niger has not just enlarged its diplomatic relations with many countries and redefined consular positions, but has also redefined the framework of cooperation with its partners. This is now based on the absolute respect for our sovereignty, our strategic choices, and the legitimate aspirations of our people. Niger is therefore not isolated, far from it. We’re also committed to a vast agricultural program to ensure food self-sufficiency for our hardworking people by ensuring that we fully use the thousands of hectares of arable land through large scale irrigation. The head of state has asked for this to be a reality and now the results that we’ve achieved are encouraging. One year since we’ve implemented these measures. For the first time in our recent history, the country has not been through a lean period, the period during which generally we had to request support from the international community. Our ambition is for to have food sovereignty. Inshallah, we will no longer need to ask for support to feed our people.

Turning to economics, in spite of the iniquitous sanctions imposed on Niger and the economic blockade supported and financed by France who are trying to hamper our country. We have courageously kept going with our macroeconomic reforms and this has led in particular to our taming inflation to minus0.1% at the end of August of this year and now we plan to see economic growth of some 7% looking in the period 2025-28. in addition our budget deficit which was 5.4% 4% of GDP in 2023 will we hope be contained to 3% by the end of this year and significant efforts have been made to improve our debt profile.

Madame President, ladies and gentlemen, now when it comes to the issue of human rights, Niger reaffirms its commitment to the international legal instruments to which it is a party. Nevertheless, we condemn the selective approach used in implementing human rights principles by some countries whose only aim is to harm our state’s image. I would also like to clearly say that Niger and all of the Confederation of Sahel states profoundly committed to respecting human dignity and the flourishing of our people will not take any human rights lectures from any kind of body. Given the security, diplomatic and development challenges, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have taken the historic decision to establish a strategic alliance which is the Confederation of Sahel States and the speakers from Burkina Faso and Mali have already mentioned this. This is a context in which we coordinate our policies and we are building our future together with our own ideas. To ensure that our diplomacy, which works perfectly well, can lead to specific outcomes so that we can meet the aspirations and needs of our peoples. This forum allows us to coordinate policy and to build our future with our own ideas and our own means based on ancestral values in a forum which we hope will soon be rid of all forms of threats.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Niger is as a result of its history and geography facing many challenges. We have to acknowledge that such as the effects of climate change, droughts followed by floods which are making life for our farmers even harder. Many of our young people are still in need and  we’re also facing up to the fact that a lot of our wealth has previously been exploited by foreign powers shamelessly. We also have the scourge of terrorism financed by Western powers as a result of one-sided agreements. Terrorism has been plunging our towns into sorrow and people have been deprived of their needs. However, Niger together with the other two countries of the Confederation are currently enjoying a renaissance and we are currently on the road to recovery through the leadership of our three heads of state and our determination to take our destiny into our own hands.

The recovery in Niger is not a break with the international community. It rather just reaffirms our sovereignty, our dignity, and our inalienable right to choose our partnerships for the well-being of our children. Our absolute priority therefore remains security. The fight against terrorism that we are engaged in, we are doing it ourselves for our region and also for the stability of the entire world because we understand that we have to be self-sufficient. We can’t rely on the UN. This powerless UN which is hampered by the veto of Western powers. The UN has to be reformed. New recovery also means economic progress through the responsible use of our immense varied natural resources. We have decided that these riches must benefit our people first and foremost. We are committed also to honest governance and we invite international investors who wish to support us in this. It will be a win-win partnership. We also hold out our hand to all countries in the world who believe in a partnership based on mutual respect, justice and solidarity. This reform also means ensuring food self-sufficiency in our country. Our government is focusing on agroecology and large-scale irrigation. As I have already said, being self-sufficient remains the watchword of our head of state.

Madame President, we still believe in multilateralism as the way to overcome global challenges. However, this must be reformed. It must be more inclusive and it must be fairer.

Africa must have its full place as it is required in international decision-making bodies including in the Security Council. The voice of our alliance must be heard when peace in the world is discussed. We have our role to play. We must work together to build a more resilient, a fairer, more equal world. A world in which security is not the privilege of just a few powers but the right of all countries be they large or small. A world in which every nation’s view counts without any kind of discrimination and where the voices of the people are heard.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you on behalf of my country.”