By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Former Consul General, Nigerian Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia in United States of America (USA), Ambassador Joe Keshi has decried the spate of coup d’etat in the African continent, saying that the trend will continue as long as leadership failures and underdevelopment persists in this part of the world.
He also bemoaned the weakness of the former West African regional power, Nigeria presently occupied with the internal war against insurgency and banditry hence her inability to replicate what the country did in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia, where coupists were driven away by ECOMOG Forces.
Speaking on Arise Television on Wednesday, on the topic: ‘Rising Wave of Coups in Africa’,
Ambassador Keshi insists that leadership failures which including the manipulative tendencies of seating African Presidents and Prime Ministers give rise to agitations or unrests which attracts the military to strike in the guise of saving the Republic.
Said he: “Truth be told, leadership failures and underdevelopment have conspired to hold African countries down. The present African leaders act undemocratically in all they do. They are power drunk as they are enmeshed in power elongation schemes which breeds bad blood and gives room for military takeovers”.
The respected diplomat lamented that most African leaders of today are unlike their predecessors who propounded the
African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a specialized agency of the African Union (AU), initiated in 2002 and established in 2003.
“APRM is a tool for sharing experiences, reinforcing best practices, identifying deficiencies, and assessing capacity-building needs to foster policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration”, he said.
Unfortunately, since those Heads of State of member countries like Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo served out their terms, those who succeeded them are no longer interested in APRM ideals.
But Keshi insists that except the present African leaders revisit APRM, the spate of Coups will not abate, adding that he does not see any African leader who will lead the line.
No fewer than five African countries are now ruled by the military juntas. They are Sudan, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and just yesterday Guinea Bissau.
Asked how will the AU and ECOWAS discourage military interventions in Africa, Keshi said both bodies need international assistance to be able to push the military back to the barracks.
Said he: “Honestly speaking, AU and ECOWAS can not do much except they invite international support. If both AU and ECOWAS impose sanctions on the military without international support, they will not succeed”.
“If international community join forces with AU and ECOWAS, I am sure they military juntas will retreat because it will be very difficult for them to run the affairs of their countries without international corporation “.
On the excuses of the military regimes in Mali and Guinea that the sacked Heads of State did not do enough in equipping the military to military to fight insurgents, he asked if the military boys will be manufacturing their own weapons.
Keshi however advised African countries especially the former French colonies to stop relying on France for their livelihood, pointing out that they cannot continue to rely on France for everything they need.
“If after 50 to 60 years of independence from France African countries still depend on the French to survive then they are not worth calling independent nations. African countries should leave the French alone”, he posited.
On Nigeria’s leadership role in Africa and the world, Ambassador Keshi bemoaned the state of affairs, saying that Nigeria has lost her prominence in Africa.
According to him: “there was a time Nigeria was contacted or rather consulted before critical decisions were taken on Africa but today Nigeria is weak and cannot lead Africa”.
He stated that the country is currently saddled with the war against insurgency and banditry hence her inability to replicate what she did in Africa and the world in the past.
On the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which the National Assembly (NASS) have again transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for his Assent, Keshi said both NASS and Executive are not working for the masses.
Said he: “I don’t really want to comment on it because everybody is acting on self interest and when people are dissatisfied then coups happen. That is why we have these problems in Africa”.
“If we fail to open the political space for all to participate, it will breed quarrel and anger. And why not when a Local Government Chairman who was begging for food yesterday suddenly becomes super rich, the youths in his locality will say let us go out there and make our own quick money like the chairman who was like us just recently”, Keshi concluded.
