The growing trend of military coups in West African countries should be a concern for Nigeria as the country approaches its next general elections amidst insecurity, increase in poverty, and protest here and there.
Insecurity has been a major concern for over a decade since the menace of Boko Haram terrorists broke out in the North East of Nigeria, it has extended to the North West where bandits have grown to terrorists. In between, we have the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South East, kidnapping and farmers/herdsmen clashes spread across other regions.
These entire rises in insecurity are threatening the peace of the country and making the nation ungovernable and unproductive. These have hindered the economy and increased the poverty and unemployment rate of the country as explained by Callistar Obi in his paper, “Challenges of Insecurity and Terrorism in Nigeria: Implication for National Development.”
Going by history and the rationale behind the recent military takeover in some West African countries, insecurity and economic decadence have always been the reasons for the military to topple the democratically elected government. Unfortunately, the military take over often resulted in abuse of human rights and expansion of corruption as there is no room for the masses to check or question the activities of the military.
Within the last 18 months, there has been an increase in military coups in West African countries. These included recently Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. According to Paul Melly, a consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Africa programme who studies the Sahel Region, each coup has been about particular local circumstances.
The situation has also forced the regional bloc, which is the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to suspend two major states for the first time since 2012. Nigeria as an economic giant and role player in the region has expressed its concerns over the situation in Burkina Faso.
In a recent development, a coup was carried out in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso as soldiers seized a military base earlier in the day and reports disclosed that gunfire was heard overnight near the presidential palace and at barracks in the capital, Ouagadougou.
In August 2020, an unexpected mutiny occurred at a Malian military barracks which led to the democratically elected president being detained. The president later announced his resignation on national television. The Malian junta leader disclosed that they do not want new elections for four more years in Mali.
In September 2021, the president of Guinea was also overthrown by a military junta that remains retained the executive power to this day.
Burkina Faso has seen its share of coup attempts and military takeovers in the past few years and this has called for an emergency solution over the rising coup in the region.
This development in the West African countries has raised the concern if Nigerian Military will not take similar steps taken in other countries of the region as the military, who has been in a war with terrorism for over a decade now will not take a similar step.
