Ailing Democracy And Bad Leadership Responsible For Military Coups In West Africa

West African countries Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and Niger are all under military leadership in a 21^st century that has seen the advancement of democracy across the globe.

Surprisingly, citizens of these countries have shown strong support for military leaders and called out “democratically elected” leaders for corruption and failure to tackle challenges confronting their nations.

Democracy in West Africa is witnessing a strong decline and is only growing on paper, as evident in the Nigerian 2023 presidential election, which failed to meet democratic standards according to the European Union electoral observer team.

Nigeria is strategic as the major power in West Africa, and when things are out of place, it reflects on other countries in the region.

When Colonel Mamady Doumbouya seized power in Guinea through a coup that ousted President Alpha Condé, he blamed the decision on rampant corruption, economic mismanagement, and disregard for human rights.

Colonel Doumbouya quoted late Ghanaian 1979 coup leader Jerry Rawlings: “If the people are crushed by their elites, it is up to the army to give the people their freedom.’’

Related: Military Coup Cannot Happen in Nigeria- Buhari

The situation in Guinea is also similar to almost every West African country.

Democratically elected leaders have failed to provide basic social amenities to citizens.

It is surprising that West African regional power Nigeria cannot provide citizens with an uninterrupted power supply despite being one of the countries on the globe with abundant mineral resources.

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari spent a huge sum of state resources treating himself in the United Kingdom while in power.

Buhari was president for eight years but failed to fix his country’s health sector.

During the Russia-Africa Summit, Burkina Faso’s junta leader Ibrahim Traore questioned the fact that African leaders have to travel to European countries and America to beg despite having resources in abundance.

“We do not understand how Africa, with so much wealth on our soil, with generous nature, water, sunshine in abundance—how Africa is today the poorest continent. Africa is a hungry continent. And how come there are heads of state all over the world begging? These are the questions we are asking ourselves, and we have no answers so far,’’ Captain Traore quizzed during the Summit held in St. Petersburg.

Most elections in West Africa are confronted by challenges relating to electoral malpractices and marred by violence, as evident in the 2023 elections in Nigeria.

The ailing state of democracy in West Africa, if not addressed, might see more countries in the region witness military coups.