Nigeria, May 1 -- As twilight fell over Nigeria's capital last month, officials in crisp suits and military uniforms gathered behind closed doors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The mood was tense, almost funereal. One senior diplomat, speaking anonymously, described the discussions bluntly: Nigeria is at a tipping point. If we don't rethink everything - security, diplomacy, leadership - we risk irrelevance and instability. Across West Africa, the regional bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) is buckling under the strain of political upheaval, military coups, and bitter divisions. Once heralded as a cornerstone for African unity and stability, ECOWAS teeters between fragmentation and collapse, its authority increasi...