Opinion
PROF. Frank Ozoh, an economist with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, Abuja, has explained why election rigging is same with coup d’etat.
According to Ozoh, “coup d’etat is a function of the suppression of the will of the people to freely elect their leaders to freely express themselves in a nonviolent manner.”
“You can not use the military and the police to suppress the will of the people, and when the same military turns against these dictators, then you advocate for civil discussions,” he said against the background of recent coup d’etat in some African countries including Mali, Niger and Gabon.
Reacting to Arikana Chihombori-Quao’s opinion on the coup d’etat in Africa, which he said was partially correct, Ozoh added that:
“Well, in the absence of those discussions by ECOWAS and France, then the military coup d’etat becomes inevitable.
Ozoh noted that in her conclusions, she abhors coup d’etat without qualifications, adding: “In my opinion, for corruption ridden African governments, for sit-tight/for life African leaders, for election manipulations and rigging, then coup d’etat are the solutions as all other means to resolve the issue have failed.
“Then, it is righteous to draw the sword when suppression of civil liberty and disobedience, when suppression of nonviolence and non-support for evil leadership and revolution is on the rise.
“All said, election rigging and suppression of the will of the people are coup d’etat. This is because the government uses the same military and police to suppress the people’s rights to freely elect and choose their leaders.”
Realnews reports that in a recent interview with ARISE Television, Quao reminded viewers that “there are other coups that we are not talking about by France forcing Niger to send all its natural resources to France. That’s a coup. By France having its own military in Niger and forcing Nigerian that you cannot be trained by France, that is a coup. By forcing Niger to deposit 50 percent of its reserves with France, that is a coup.
“The question I have for those sitting on the table during those ECOWAS meetings; during those AU Peace and security meetings what you have done about those coups? Take those three coups and multiply by 14 because that’s what is happening in the 14 former French colonies. These are the deadly coups that have taken place and your ECOWAS have done nothing about those coups. I need them to also answer and give us a remedy as to how they are going to handle those coups. Make no mistake about it, those are coups against the African citizens in those countries, and when while they discuss what they would like to do with Niger, I would also want them to table those coups and come up with a solution as to what needs to be done because those behind those coups that I just described from France, there are millions of children who are dying of starvation; there are millions of children who are going to bed with an empty stomach; there are millions of African youth who are unemployed. There are millions of women who are dying while giving birth to another life. I need them to put that on the table as well if their interests are truly about the Africans, let’s have a global view of the issue, let’s have a bird’s eye view of the issue, and have a frank and fair discussion about what is really going on in Africa.
She said: “I do know and I don’t think that the courage that is going on in Africa is what ECOWAS is all about. Leadership is about the people. It is about creating a better life for the people. But if you are going to allow one who has committed egregious crimes in Africa to continue to have coups; those are coups. Let’s call a spade a spade. You can’t give France a pass so also let us know what you intend to do about those ongoing economic and political coups that are being imposed on those 14 French former colonies by France. So to just talk about what is happening in Niger in Isolation and not go to the root causes of the genesis of what is happening simply does not make any sense, and I would hope military intervention in Niger is not an option. That is simply not what we should do as Africans. There are better ways of dealing with our issues. Our elders must come together. Our elders must have a frank conversation and let’s look at what is best for the people not only the people in Niger but in all former French colonies and in all African countries because this moment is calling for unity, meaningful unity of purpose amongst African leaders to simply say this can no longer continue. It simply cannot continue. The people have spoken and I hope our leaders will listen.”
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September 1, 2023 @ 22:19 GMT|
Tags: Prof. Frank Ozoh
