Coups, instability crippling Africa’s growth — Osinbajo, Obasanjo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, declared that African countries are currently going through a perilous storm, following political instability and military incision in politics in some parts of the continent.

They spoke at the opening session of a two-day high-level dialogue organised by the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, CoDA, with the theme: ‘West Africa: Rising to the Challenges of Consolidating Democratic Governance’, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, OOPL, Abeokuta, in Ogun State.

Notable personalities at the event are former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice-President of The Gambia, Fatoumata Tambajanb; former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, and Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, among others.

In his keynote address, the Vice President bemoaned military incursion into democratic regimes of some African countries.

He also urged the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, the African Union, AU, and other African organisations to ensure the political and economic stability of West Africa and Africa at large.

His words: “This is a moment of peril for democracy in our region because we are navigating a perfect storm of adverse circumstances, a world economy that is reeling from recessional shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, price and supply disruption from the war in Ukraine, the emergency of armed non-state actors, poor challenges associated with catering for the youngest populations in the world.

“We must not allow our continent to become as it was in the cold war era. A fetter of proxy wars and great power conflict, we know from experience that this would result in a deepening of the recession of democratic values in Africa.

“The militarisation of civil society whether by local military regimes or rival foreign military-industrial complexes can only set us back by several decades.

“Our commitment to democratisation must be predicated on the aspiration of our people and not from the whims of foreign powers.

“The recent spate of military coups across our continent and attempts at military coups not only portends the risk of a damaging democratic recession, but it also takes us back to the circles of extra-constitutional disruptions that plagued us decades ago.

“Since 2017, there have been 12 military coups in Africa and half of them occurred since 2020. Two months ago, the democratically elected government of Burkina Faso was overthrown while only in February, there was an attempted coup in Genuine Bissau which was thankfully repealed.

“This much is clear; we know that we cannot secure Africa that we want by turning back the hands of the democratic clock. We have walked this thorny road before, we have many decades’ worth of bitter experience and impeachable lessons from our history, a clear lesson of our history is that despotisms cannot guarantee the security and prosperity of our people.

“No matter how dire our circumstances may be, we now have concrete proof that resort to extra-constitutional regimes is not the way forward.”

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Coup crippling Africa’s growth — Obasanjo

In his welcome address, Obasanjo, who was the Chairman of CoDA, condemned military incursions in some African countries, lamenting that coup d’etat, election fraud and political violence and instability have crippled the growth of Africa.

Obasanjo said: “In recent years, we have witnessed a return of coup d’etat, election fraud and political violence resulting in instability and threatening the developmental gains we have made in the last couple of decades.

“I feel very sad and it gives me great concern when I see the democratic system we have painfully built collapsing. And I believe there must be a solution because the problem is human and all human problems can be solved by human beings. That is why the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, CoDA, under my chairmanship and the OOPL, have brought all of us together today to discuss pertinent issues affecting governance in West Africa, including the challenges and then to seek the way forward.

“Achieving this may not be easy but it is a must if we want our nation to make progress, it must entail responsible management of diversity which makes everyone feel a sense of belonging and be a significant part of the whole.

“We need a stable environment to grow our economies and ensure that countries develop sustainably. Such an inclusive democratic environment will fast track developing our economy and will strengthen our security and promote general progress.”