Politically speaking, the rising foray of the military into politics in the West African region is becoming worrisome with the recent of such incursion being the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Mohammed Bazoum of Niger Republic on 26 July, 2023. This is an addition to the existing military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.


While there have been widespread national and international condemnations of the military take-over of power in this country, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the chairmanship of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, has announced several sanctions against Niger Republic and is considering the use of force to restore the ousted elected government.


However, the focus of this piece is to examine the implication of cutting off power supply to the country as one of the measures to pressure the military boys to vacate power.
It should be noted that Nigeria exports electricity to Niger Republic through 132kV Birnin-Kebbi/Niamey and Katsina/Gazaoua lines under a bilateral contractual agreement. 

The interruption of power supply from Nigeria to Niger as one of the steps to send the “illegal” military regime packing in Niger looks hasty and has its own implication, which the authorities in Nigeria must take into consideration.


Although Clausewitz posits that politics is “the continuation of war by other means”, the measure to cut off power supply to Niger Republic should have attracted wider consultations before its implementation just as the proposed action to use force has been delayed to allow for wider consultations following the numerous diplomatic shuttles to engage the coup plotters in talks with the aim of a peaceful resolution of the crisis.


Since the supply of electricity to Niger Republic is an economic transaction that is guided by some regulations like notice before disconnection, it is hoped that the Nigerien authority was given enough notice before the act of plunging the nation into darkness as doing otherwise has grave implications. 

For example, sudden interruption could adversely affect ongoing surgical operations in health facilities and factories producing goods across the country as well as the generality of innocent citizens. In the area of electricity operation, those concerned ought to be notified in order to allow them take necessary measures to source for alternatives and secure their lines against vandalism.

Going forward, we hope that a quick resolution is reached to the Nigerien crisis as military rule is an aberration and the worst civilian rule is better than the best military rule. On their part, democratic leaders should understand that democracy is only a means to an end of good governance. They should put the people first by introducing economic policies that will eliminate poverty, hunger and diseases and are capable of transforming their countries from developing to developed status.