The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-West Africa) has expressed concern over the resurgence and normalisation of military rule in parts of West and Central Africa.
The Director CDD-West Africa, Dr. Dauda Garuba said that the centre’s newly released background paper titled; “Militarism Reloaded: The Rise of Military Populism in Francophone West Africa”, outlines how recent coups, particularly in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea, are not simply reversions to old patterns but expressions of a more sophisticated and ideologically packaged authoritarianism.
Garuba in a statement issued Thursday noted that far from being isolated disruptions, these military interventions present themselves as national corrections, cloaked in the language of sovereignty, anti-imperial resistance, and Pan-African revivalism.
He added: “This emerging military populism anchored on growing citizens’ frustrations with democratic failure, insecurity, and the persistent inequities around the world, particularly in West and Central Africa.
“But its allure is deceptive. Beneath the surface of patriotic slogans and digital virality lies a strategic attempt to consolidate power, silence dissent, delay transitions, and reconfigure what legitimacy means in postcolonial Africa.”
Gaeuba noted that drawing on decades of military tutelage under colonial rule, this new wave of populist militarism repackages authoritarianism as a necessary national sacrifice.
He said that electoral processes are postponed or rewritten, constitutions suspended, and civil society voices suppressed under vague threats to national security.
He listed the Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, where military regimes increasingly manipulate digital platforms to mobilise support, spread disinformation, and cultivate parallel narratives where elections are portrayed as distractions and the military, once again, becomes the ‘saviour of the state’.
Gaeuba noted: “This evolving phenomenon is dangerous not only because of its domestic implications but also for its regional reverberations. ECOWAS, once a bulwark of democratic norms, now struggles to enforce its own red lines.
“The weakening of regional institutions, coupled with a geopolitical pivot away from traditional allies, threatens to undermine decades of democratic progress across West Africa,” he said.
Garuba said that over the next eight months, CDD-West Africa, in collaboration with partners across the region, will conduct in-depth research on how military populism spreads and sustained leveraging platforms.
He said that the organisation will monitor digital propaganda, analyse ideological framing, and assess the threats posed to elections, civic space, and regional cohesion.
The goal, he said, is to generate evidence-based insights and practical recommendations to help safeguard West Africa’s information environment and to support democratic resilience.