Resurgent Military Political Adventurism in West Africa: Implications for the Survival of Democracy

Abstract

The democratization efforts of the 1990s in West Africa appeared to have put paid to military political adventurism which had been the plague of that region since independence in the 1960s. But since the year 2000 there has been a resurgence of military intervention in the politics of some West African states and this calls for concern as well as pre-emptive measures. This study sets out to identify the pre-disposing factors and make suggestions for the sustainment of democracy. In the process it was established that bad governance; corruption; poverty; insecurity; nonavailability of the dividends of democracy in tangible quantity; inordinate ambition of some military officers; and the half-hearted response of ECOWAS to anti-democratic tendencies are prevalent pre-disposing factors. We have suggested that good governance, inclusive democracy, transparency and accountability should be strictly adhered to under the close watch of ECOWAS.

Key words: Coups, Governance, Democratization, Junta, Democracy, Competition,
Election