The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has condemned in entirety any plans by either the African Union (AU), United Nation (UN), or any global association to use force or coercion in restoring democratic governance in Gabon, Niger Republic or any other country in Africa.
The caucus urged all leaders in Africa to pursue, and enthrone good governance, saying this is the only panacea towards arresting, and stopping unnecessary military interruptions in constitutional democracy across the continent.
Its Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, in a statement issued Friday, however, expressed displeasure at the growing trend of military adventurism on the continent.
It described it as extremely sad, deeply worrisome, and pathetically shameful that the continent, in the past few years, has witnessed sudden rise in military coups in some countries.
The caucus was of the opinion that this development has rolled back the gains of the democratic struggles for the return to civil rule of the late 1980s and 1990s.
It identified bad governance, inordinate ambitions and outright disconnect from the citizens as the root causes of military incursions into governance.
It said: “It is totally condemnable that in the past one 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.”
It added: “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.”
The Caucus wondered why 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 “family’s birthright.”
Chinda noted that 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.
However, it is imperative to state in clear terms that the use and deployment of brute force, and aggression in whatever guise is not the solution to the problems at hand.
“While the Caucus condemns in entirety any plans by either the AU, UN, or any global association to use force or coercion in restoring democratic governance in Gabon, Niger Republic or any other country in Africa, we urge all Leaders in Africa to pursue, and enthrone good governance.”