There are conflicting media reports of a military takeover in Niger.
While some of the reports state that there is a takeover, others say it is an attempted coup by that country’s presidential guards and that troops loyal to President Mohamed Bazoum were going to rescue him and his family as they have been detained in the Presidential Palace.
Whatever is the case, the situation in Niger is volatile and must be handled with the utmost caution to avoid bloodshed and chaos that can undermine peace in that country.
It must be noted that hours after President Bazoum was detained, his supporters tried to approach the palace, but were dispersed by members of the Presidential Guards, who fired warning shots.
Currently, there are reports of some West African leaders planning mediation between the president and the guards and Benin’s president Patrice Talon was reported yesterday as being on his way to Niger for that purpose.
We hope the best would come out of efforts to restore stability to Niger.
In the meantime, West African leaders and leaders from elsewhere, including the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as well as international organisations such the African Union and the European Union, have condemned the situation in Niger.
Catching our particular attention is the view expressed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He is reported to have asked West Africans to reject all forms of military takeovers within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) jurisdiction.
To emphasise his stance, the President says the unconstitutional way of changing governments across the sub-region should not be tolerated and that insecurity in West Africa must come to an end to help drive the needed development.
We cannot agree more with President Akufo-Addo and others expressing similar condemnations.
This is because in this era of globalisation and efforts by political leaders to ensure the development of their countries with democratic governance as the tool, coups must be things of the past.
Against this background, those condemning the coup in Niger or have condemned the recent military take-overs in Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso must pause and ask the question, “Why are coups failing to fade out in the West African sub-region?”
In time past, particularly the first four decades of independence, foreign influence and strategic competition made coups to occur in the sub-region.
Those coups were said to be set against Cold War politics as two global powers, the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the United States, tangoed over Africa in general.
Today, the roots of coups lie in mainly poor governance, including corruption, by elected leaders and opulence, nepotism, arrogance and other negative traits of these leaders.
Some say until these leaders outlive such traits, future coups are not inevitable and democratic progress will hardly be possible in West Africa.
This is the matter that must be tackled by all those doing the condemnations rather than pour in ‘rantings’ that effect no change.
