President Bola Tinubu has lamented the rate of military takeovers of government in West Africa.
The president expressed his feelings in Nairobi, Kenya urging African leaders to ensure political stability in the continent.
Tinubu also charged the United Nations to take a strong position against coup plotters taking over government in Africa, adding that coup detat has become prevalent in the subregion.
Waves of military coups have swept through Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Sudan in recent times.
But speaking at the sideline of Fifth Mid-Year African Union (AU) Coordination Meeting, organized by the UN President Tinubu who is also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, EOWAS said the military institutions must limit themselves to their constitutional role.
He said coup detat must be discouraged in the face of myriads of challenges facing the continent.
The president, according to a statement issued by Dele Alake, the President’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, was represented by Ambassador Adamu Ibrahim Lamuwa, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The statement said coup detat “has only succeeded in threatening the peace, security and stability of the sub-region and by extension the African continent, leaving in its trail poverty, internally-displaced persons and humanitarian crisis. In the same vein, this ugly trend has also led to food shortages and escalated health challenges.
”We therefore must take deliberate steps to address the root causes of unconstitutional changes and coups d’état in Africa. As a continent, we cannot make progress toward achieving the goals and targets of the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, as well as those of AU Agenda 2063 for the ‘Africa We Want’.
”Between 2020 and now, Africa has witnessed six successful coups d’état and three unsuccessful attempts. This rise in military takeovers and unconstitutional changes in government disrupts our democratic processes and undermines stability on the continent.
”It is for this reason that I call on all African leaders at all levels to make concerted efforts in respecting the tenets of democracy and the rule of law, in order to ensure political stability on the continent.”
