The Nigerien protesters who were mostly youths have ridiculed Tinubu with the nickname to express their discontent over his response to the recent coup in their country.
Recall that Niger President, Mohamed Bazoum, 63, was kicked out of power on July 26th by his elite presidential guard in a coup widely condemned by the United States, European nations, the United Nations, and the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS.
Tinubu, in his capacity as ECOWAS chairman, condemned the coup, stressing that the attempt by the military to seize power was unacceptable.
But, on July 28th, two days after the coup, Chief of Niger’s presidential guard, General Abdourahamane Tiani declared himself the leader of the country after removing and detaining Bazoum.
ECOWAS, in response to the coup, slammed the country with sanctions, including enforcing a no-flight zone, maintaining that Bazoum remains the recognised president.
In addition to the sanctions, ECOWAS also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the military junta in Niger, demanding a transfer of power back to the democratically elected government of Mohamed Bazoum.
The 15-member regional bloc, under Tinubu’s leadership, also invited all Chiefs of Defence Staff from member states for an emergency meeting in Abuja to strategise on implementing a possible military operation to restore Bazoum to power.
But, as predicted, the Defence Chiefs from Mali, Niger, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Guinea shunned the meeting and threatened military alignment against any country that invades the Niger Republic.
Tinubu, on Thursday, August 3 dispatched a delegation to the Niger Republic with a mandate to resolve the current political impasse in the restive West African nation.
Despite these efforts, Nigeriens took to the streets with printed images of the Nigerian president, referring to him as “Ebola Tinubu,” and even portraying him sleeping at events.
They also mocked Tinubu with terms like “Precambrian fossil” and “illegitimate,” while expressing their frustration and anger over the stance of the ECOWAS bloc on the matter.
