Countries, aquas has called on these countries to reconsider their decision to quit the political and Economic Alliance warning of the hardships the move will force on their citizens. Meanwhile, the Italian Government unveiled details of a plan for what it says is an eu era of partnership with african nations. During a recent summit attended by at least 20 African Leaders in rome, italian Prime Minister georgia meloni appeared eager to establish hub to distribute energy, gas in particular. To the rest of europe, so will africa really benefit from this plan, or is it a more upgraded conspiracy to continue looting africas resources. Hello, im mubarak kenya and this is africa today. The first segment of our show today is a serious split in the Economic Community of West African States following the withdrawal of three major countries. This week we are also focusing on the recent italy africa summit. Italys hard right Prime MinisterGiorgio Meloni was criticized. For failing to consult African Leaders on her socalled Development Plan for africa. You can be part of the conversation today by sending us your comments through our social media handle appearing on the screen. Split in echoos. Three neighboring countries in the rest of saheld region, burkina faso, mali and niger jointly announced their immediate withdrawal. From the Economic Community of West African States late january. They stated that ecowas is subservient to foreign powers. The decision by the three countries to withdraw from echoas was announced in niger by a spokesman of the countrys transitional government. Lets take a listen. The organization notably failed to assist these states in their existential fight against terrorism and insecurity. Worse when these states decided to take their destiny into their own hands echoos adopted. Irrational and unacceptable stance by imposing sanctions that were illegal, illegitimate, inhumane, and irresponsible. For incisive analysis on the factors behind the withdrawal of these three countries from ecos, we have contacted hardy yakubu, a panafricanist and member of the economic fighters league. Now in the withdraw statement, burkinafaso, mali and nija, all founding members of equa since its establishment in 1975 expressed deep dissatisfaction with the blocks current trajectory. Now mr. Yakubo, our first question, what is the Immediate Impact of withdrawal from ecos by these three sahel countries . And can you say that this west African Economic block has suffered major setback . The main purpose for setting up echos was to sort of foster that kind of coming together and and being in a particular community to promote common interests that are uh meant to. Have the interest of the people of the west africa region and so if we get to point where some of the members uh want to push move away from that community, obviously that community is going to suffer of um some setback and that is why there has been a bit of uh scrumbling around. There was an emergency uh meeting of the mediation and Security Committee of of echoas to consider some of these things. Uh initially cows had issued a statement saying that they needed to negotiate and and have all of this so certainly it is a big thing and you know not just because it it shows fraction in the community but also because if you look at the landscape of the west africa region niger mali and burkina faso cover a significant landmars and if if you were to take those three countries out of of echoass then the landmass of of of echoass would be would be would be drastically reduced. The three countries say one of the reasons they are withdrawing from echoas is due to to the illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions imposed on them. Experts say these sanctions affect the lives of ordinary people. The decision by burkina faso, mali and niger to quit echoos was welcomed by the masses in these countries. Many like this citizen of niger believe that france is manipulating this regional block. You saw that the president of nigeria. And the president of ivory coast went to paris and we suspect that france is manipulating echous, so all these elements add weight to our suspicions, so for us, the decision is not only salutary, but also history. Another major allegation by the three countries against echoas in their withdrawal statement is that this regional block is now controlled by foreign powers. Mr. Yakubu, how true. Is this assassion . I think there is a big problem and im the first to confess that in a lot of the discussions that we have, there is agency, you cannot, you cannot dismiss the fact that there is agency, but there is also pressure you know from external forces that that seek to control the the the the direction and and the policy prescriptions of echoas and even the way implements, it implements his his own decisions and his own policies and without uh without these external pressures, i think we would have seen a more robust uh echous and we would have seen a more responsive equal of course you know when you talk about your politics and things like that there is always that sort of uh that that that that that window for for external pressure. Especially when you look at the fact that when you look at the fact that the funding to these uh multilateral bodies in africa and and and institutions regional bodies and and all of those things a lot of the funding comes from outside he who pays the paper will call the twin well the countries that have withdrawn from echos face enormous security challenges particularly the constant attacks by insurgents and terrorists in fact. They accused acoas of failing to assist them tackle insecurity. Now in view of the withdraw from echoas, the future of the security situation in this sah countries remains uncertain. Now mr. Yakubu, how do you see the security situation unfolding uh in these sahel countries . I mean, like there seems to be some frustration and not just in terms of the the the people, the people in the scheme of governance, but also you know civil society, ordinary people, there is some frustration that there is no success and theres movement, and there there there has been discussions, there have been discussions regarding even where some people point fingers that even some of those, some of those insergences have been sponsored you know by some of the external forces that pretended to be working against them because in the in the in the inst. Ility that is ongoing, they have, they get the leway to then exploit the resources of african uh, of african countries, and and you know, there could be merit to that, we all know that western nations, western countries, they they they they are masters in creation of instability just so that they can steal resources from other countries, so there could be merit to that uh, that. Accusations. The west African Regional block, ecoos, has urged burkina faso, niger and mali to reconsider their decision to quit this political and Economic Alliance. The chairman the blocks mediation and security council, Yusuf Maitama tugar, who is also nigerias foreign minister, says withdrawal from echoas would bring more hardship and will do more harm to the common citizens of those three countries. The exit from equals. Would be much worse than the sanctions in terms of the hardship that it would put, it would place uh the citizens of these three countries, so we dont wish it upon them, we dont want to see that. No doubt any further disintegration of vequas will impact negatively on west africa and its riple effects might be felt across africa. Now our last question to you, mr. Yakubo, what does the future hold for these uh . Economic block key thing about equas is that they have not really come come come to together in the way that it was envisaged. Had warned us that creation of these regional bodies would be uh catastrophic for for for africa because they were going to create other another layer of of of power struggles and these would further be not only destruction but active obstacles to the unification of of of africa and that is what we are seeing now so clearly i wouldnt a advocate for the survival of of ecors per say, but i would say that if ecoers, if eco was has still has the mandate that that it was it was created, e the principle that the unification of the continent is the ultimate goal, and therefore these socalled regional bodies were to facilitate that unification, then ecos has very, very simple, simple task here, these three african countries have not yet adopted constitutional governments, it is very easy uh for echoas to dialogue with them and say that why not you can accelerate us towards the unification uh unification process by coming together to write one constitution and unifying your territories into one. Well that was hard yakubu, panafricanist and member of the economic fighters. I like to thank him for his incisive analysis today, we now take a short break before our next topic on the recent italy africa summit, stay with us. Italy, africa summit. Iran, the. Country that has been sanctioned and affected by sabotage because of its nuclear potential, but why and why does iran insis on continuing its Nuclear Project . Join us on hidden files to find out right here on prest tv. Italian Prime Minister georgia meloni late january and veil what she called italys big Development Plan for africa leaders and representatives from 45 african nations were in the italian capital rome to hear the details of melonis socalled matei plan. This is tout it as a flagship policy inspired by enrico mattei, the founder of the oil company anni who in the 1950s let italys exploitation of african natural resources. Many communities in africa remained poor while this italian multinational took all the profits. Prime minister meloni speaks here on some of our. Objectives in hosting the italy africa summit. Stopping the Trafficking Network is a goal we all share. Promote safe and legal pathways, improve asylum and management procedures, fair burden sharing for refugee hosting countries and help the countries that most of all are taking on the burden of those who flee from war and from terrorism. Now for more insights on the real reasons behind the italy africa summit, we have. Contacted donald dayer, he is the chief executive officer of the panafrican Lawyers Union and the chairperson of the panafrican citizens network. Thank you for your time sir today, and i am glad to join you again. The Italian Government has announced a 6 billion dollar Development Plan for africa. Now, mr. Da, what do you make of this Development Plan . Is it another new colonial adventure by this former colonial power in africa . Yes. My sense is this another new colonial adventure by a relatively minor former colonial power . Why do i say so . First, nobody, none of the citizens of africa knew that there was going to be such an italy, africa summit until just shortly before the summit. It was not discussed in our various african countries, certainly it was not discussed at the last meeting of the African Union to know that there was a plan, so within very short notice were told that theres a meeting, we see our leaders flying in there. We are looking at 6 billion, which by the time you divide by 55 african countries is not that much really, so this is just a small vanity project that our heads of state are falling for. Again italy has signed several gas deals with african nations in its bit to replace russian supplies. In the First Quarter of 2022, italy signed deal with angola to ramp up gas supplies from the Southern African country as it seeks to break away from russian gas over the ukraine crisis. Angolan foreign minister teta antonio described the deal as a first step. Analysts say that the recent rome summit had nothing to do with africas development. And that it was actually a forum for italian fossil fuels multinationals to strengthen their footprint across africa to meet European Energy needs. This is the first step of many, because we have a diversified cooperation with italy. Melonis socalled plan for africa was criticized by many africans. For instance, one of the first african speakers at the summit, the African UnionCommission Chairman musakih muhammad stressed that african countries. Have like to be consulted before italy unveiled its plan for africa. Now, mr. Da, as you said earlier, italy presented its socalled plan without consulting African Leaders. Now, it appears quite condescending and typical uh colonial approach. Do you agree . Of course i agree, and i think the person to blame in this particular instance, actually more than the colonial power, is mr. Musa. Mahamat himself, the chairperson of the African Union commission. As chairperson of the African Union commission, he is a chief International Civil servant in africa. He is the chief advisor of our 55 heads of state. How would he leave his office in nadisaba, to fly into italy blindly to then go and be confronted with document that he has not received . Why did he not just say that i will not leave Addis Abababa before receiving and approving the document . And i will not advise any african head of state to go to italy without knowing what were going to discuss. It is totally condescending. It is treating africans as children, it is infantilizing African Leaders if they would just appear in a small european state to sign up to agreements that they had not seen before they arrived in that city. And actually this should be you a culpable offense of these heads of state and this senior civil. When they get back home. Now italy was one of the European Countries with colonies in africa. Considering these colonial background, can african countries really trust that italy has no nefarias intentions to further loot the continents resources disguised as investment or Development Plan . First, let me just highlight one thing, while italy actually colonized libya and. Ritry and parts of somalia, and while it did temporarily occupy parts of ethiopia, it never managed to colonize ethiopia. We celebrate ethiopia as one of the countries that fought of successfully a colonial power and remained independent uh throughout the season of colonialism, but having said that, yes indeed it is true, no african state has any reason to trust any european state when it comes to this kind. Of agreements especially those European Countries that were formerly colonial powers in africa, france, germany before it lost its colonial positions, spain, italy, and so on. We have no reason to trust, every single interaction that we have had with our counterparts from europe, has ended up in exploitation and actually in new colonialism, new forms of colonialism. One of georgia melonis key outcome. From her africa plan is reducing unofficial migration. She claims that the new italy africa plan aims to foster prosperity on the african continent, as a way to remove one of the root causes of irregular migration to europe. However, analysts say this approach to illegal migration will continue as long as western powers, including italy, continue looting africas resources. This idea of hard borders of things called states are a relatively. Recent invention in human, political, economic and social history, theyre basically 300 years old, people have always flowed from areas of one to areas of plenty, and they offer something in return for being allowed to stay there, so first this concept of illegal migration is a concept that i have a problem with, secondly, what we have seen is a whole range of European Countries outsourcing their borders into africa and outsourcing their migration. Uh obligations to african states so that african states try to block migrants from crossing into europe. The problem is africans are crossing into europe buse europe is rich. Out of the resources that is looting from african countries, so the reality is africans are following their resources into europe, what we urge our european colleagues to do is stop looting africas resources, africa will have enough to develop itself, africans will not be migrating out of africa into europe, it is europeans who will be migrating out of europe into africa like they did to impose colonialism to go after our resources, so the only way that migration. Can be stemmed is stop looting africa. Summits like the italy africa summit have come under sharp criticism from panafricanis who believe that it is disrespectful for african leader to keep attending such meetings. Ambassador arikanao, the former African Union ambassador to the United States comments on the usafrica summit held in december 2022. President biden would not pick up and go to meet with any other leader in the world. Without agenda, that simply doesnt happen, right . So what makes the us think that they can engage African Leaders without an agenda . Come to washington, let me tell you what i want to do for you, come to washington, let me tell you what you need to do in your countries, that game is is an old game, right . Its not gonna work anymore. To be honest with you, if im to speak the truth, i hope lot of heads of states dont come, because it is insult, it is an abuse of the African Leaders, mm. A disrespect of the African Leaders, where is the agenda . Please respect the African Leaders, do unto them what you would want done to you. Well, there has been a lot of criticism that african governments dont have a plan for africa, and therefore the continent continues to be part of someone elses plan. Mr. The uh last question, whats to take on these increasingly common summits between some global imperialist powers and African Leaders, the problem that africa faces is that many of our leaders have a mental affliction called skizophrenia. Sometimes their brain works, sometimes their brains dont, sometimes they remember crucial things, sometimes they dont, they exercise some some of confidence when theyre facing their citizens, they totally lookf lack selfconfidence when theyre facing their fellow leaders from the global north. Africa does have a plan, we have very comprehensive plan, its called the African Union. Agenda 2063 in seven aspirations and in several programs beneath it, it addresses everything in africa, democracy, governance, rule of law, human rights, development, engaging the youth, engaging women and so on, so we do have a comprehensive plan, and the problem is sometimes our leaders forget that we have a plan or behave like we dont have a plan. Part of this plan, as aspiration seven is africa to engage the rest of the world from a position. To mutuality and dignity, african heads of states trouping uh falling over themselves to go meet some minor colonial power is going against aspiration seven of our own plan, so its not that we dont have a plan, we have leaders that lack confidence and sometimes have forgetfulness issues, but clearly my take on all these summits is we should punish our leaders for embarrassing us by trouping themselves like kids to go and listen to one leader a time. A very strong statement there, africa has a strong plan and leaders in this continent should face their counterparts across the world from a position of strength. I like to thank our guest there donald day, the chief executive officer, the panafrican layers union for his incisive analysis today. Thats it for this. Of africa today, its always great having you watch the show, you can watch this episode and all our previous shows on our website pressv. Ir, drop us a line through our social media handle and let us know what you think from me mubarak, goodbye for now. Obviously and it is an honor to receive your good morning. After the israeli entity airstrikes that targeted several towns in South Lebanon of the past week, resulting in the martterdom of nine lebanese civilians, hesbolah threatened escalation on the border. Hisballah secretary general sayid Hasan Nasrullah declared that the latest israeli entity attacks towns in South Lebanon constitute escalation because they targeted civilians and killed a large number of them hinting at striking the settlement of ilat inside occupied palestine. Said nasulah also warned against the role of the Us White House officials who often verbally object to zianist israels mass killing of palestinians in gaza, but continue to send massive quantities of weapons to facilitated. Hisbullah vows escalation this week on the meast stream. Israely attacks on palestinians in gaza persist as the us israri genocidal war enters its 137th day. Israeli Occupation Forces conduct rates on different areas in the west bank resulting in injuries and abductions of palestinian. Is there, the International Court of justice holds a second day of hearings on the israely occupation of palestinian territories