… says only good governance will stop military coups in Africa
The minority caucus of the House of Representatives has warned against the use of force or coercion to restore democratic governance in Gabon, Niger Republic, or other countries in Africa currently being ruled by the military.
In a statement in Abuja and signed by the Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, the caucus said good governance which must be enthroned by African leaders is the only panacea towards arresting and stopping unnecessary military interruptions in constitutional democracy across the continent.
He said when leaders in Africa begin to meet the expectations of people through selfless service, resourceful and responsive delivery of good governance, adherence to the rule of law, and protection of persons and properties, military incursions will definitely take the back seat.
While condemning the ugly development of military incursion in leadership positions in Africa, Chinda said “it is extremely sad, deeply worrisome, and pathetically shameful that the continent, in the past few years, has witnessed a sudden rise in military coups in some countries thereby rolling back the gains of the democratic struggles for the return to civil rule of the late 1980s and 1990s.
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“It is totally condemnable that in the past decade, military putsch has taken place in Sudan, Mali, Tunisia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger Republic and now Gabon. That these countries are in the Western, Northern, and Central regions of Africa, which represents more than half of the entire continent, calls for serious concerns and debilitating worries.”
The Minority Leader identifies bad governance, inordinate ambitions, and outright disconnect from the citizens as the root causes of military incursions into governance on the continent.
He said “confronted with the pains and miseries foisted by these sit-tight leaders on hapless citizens, who have been going through years and decades of bad governance, colossal economic hardship, serial social deprivation, deep-rooted poverty, deliberate intimidation, and corrosive lack, military interventions of any guise will not only be welcomed but celebrated by citizens of these countries.”
“Fact is, having suffered long and painful years of total neglect by their Leaders through official insensitivity, deliberate class segregation, enforcement of inimical political and economic programmes and other negative decisions and actions, sadly the sound of martial music has become a welcome relief and friend for citizens.”
“Leaders in these countries in their respective bids to achieve inordinate ambitions take decisions and actions to perpetrate themselves in office, and in some cases turn the Leadership of their county to the family’s birthright.
“The now-frequent coups on the continent are also adduced to the sit-tight obnoxious desires of some of these leaders, who continuously manipulate and compromise the system to achieve their egoistic and undemocratic ambitions.”