Mutaru Muqthar, the Executive Director of the West Africa Center for Counter-Extremism (WACCE), has warned against coup d’état as alternative to democratic challenges.
He suggested that the appropriate way to deal with current challenges was for review of the 1992 Constitution and stated remedy to bad democratic governance was not a coup d’état towards better democratic governance.
“We need to take our Constitution, our model of democracy and look at challenges, what are fault lines, flaws to look at and change that suits our reality because our Constitution and model of governance must respond to reality, needs, hopes, aspirations of our people with generation that is youth driven,” Mr Muqthar averred.
His comments followed a report by WACCE, which indicates the country’s political stability may be disrupted, in the wake of terrorism in the Sahel and other domestic challenges such as youth unemployment however, even though the nation has been relatively peaceful over the years, there is a likelihood of an upsurge, due to recent happenings in the sub-region, and neighbouring countries such as Benin, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr Muqthar rejected calls for total overhaul of the Constitution but only portions that did not meet the needs of contemporary times must be reviewed adding that threats of political instability could, however, be forestalled “if measures are put in place to prevent impending dangers.
“The threat of terrorism is increasingly descending from the Sahel towards coastal states, today, more than 53 per cent of all Economic Community of West African States are experiencing insurgencies and pervasive spillover phenomenon makes our border regions key areas of concern.
“Recent attacks in Benin, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire highlight determination of terrorists to expand beyond landlocked Sahalian countries, where insurgency has devastated thousands of lives and property in the last decade with growing joblessness driven many onto cyberspace to live in an illicit economy,” Mr Muqthar cautioned.
Richard Kumadoe, Fraud and Security Consultant, stressed the need for the government to roll out measures to forestall any undesirable occurrence including unresolved conflicts in the Northern part of the country which posed threat to political stability, since it could be exploited by external plotters to wreak havoc.–myjoyonline.com
