Executive Director of the West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism (WACCE), Mutaru Muqthur, has revealed that the issue of governance is a big problem for countries who are experiencing coups.

According to him, these countries are left devastated when they become overwhelmed with recurring issues of youth unemployment and ineffective leaders who are elected to govern the countries. Mr Muqthur indicated that the challenges the Sahel and the people of coastal states are facing is one which must be addressed.

His comments follow ECOWAS’s suspension of Burkina Faso from all activities of the Community following the toppling of the government of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore last Monday by the military.

“Governance is a very big problem coupled with the issues of youth unemployment. The huge governance deficit coupled with youth unemployment makes these countries very fragile and so, things like this happening should not surprise anyone who’s been watching all this while. I think my general summary in terms of the challenges we are dealing with is that what we are seeing in terms of violent extremism and in terms of the coups that are happening, is largely a product or a manifestation of the frustrations and anger of the citizens…”

Following the coup which has occurred in Burkina Faso, Mr Muqthur believes that the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) has not done much, neither have they made any real impact beyond issuing of communique. He explained that governments have seen them act in this same way in previous circumstances by resorting to the very “traditional tools” of suspensions.

“These things are very traditional and they have proven very ineffective in terms of its capacity to get these military leaders on that path of democracy or civilian rule. So, ECOWAS is repeating same. I do not expect to see anything different in terms of outcomes. I think that overall, we are tackling the problem the wrong way. The dissent, the issue of violent extremism from the Sahel descending towards coastal states has been the reality for more than five years”.

ECOWAS urged to be proactive

Mr Muqthur expressed that ECOWAS, well within its rights, must be “very proactive” in terms of dealing with the drivers and the underpinnings of factors and terrorist violence that has led to what countries such as Mali is experiencing today.

The Executive Director of WACCE noted that ECOWAS’ approach to resolving military takeovers is wrong. He emphasized that the issues behind the coups have been persistent for a while, therefore, ECOWAS should have been proactive in dealing with the military takeovers.

“I think that overall, we are tackling the problem the wrong way”.

Following the coup, ECOWAS has demanded the immediate release of President Kabore and all other political detainees and asked the military to restore constitutional order speedily. President Akufo-Addo last Friday during a virtual meeting equally charged members of the bloc to help restore constitutional rule to Burkina Faso.

Emphasizing his stance on ECOWAS’s move, Mr Muqthur iterated that the bloc’s response to the coups in West Africa is dysfunctional. He revealed that “ECOWAS is not properly tooled to deal with this”.