A military coup to overthrow the present civilian coup recently carried out by the Senegalese President Macky Sall against the people of Senegal is hatching in Senegal. And I do not need any prophet to prophesy this to me or anyone else who has been keenly following developments in that French West African country that is held as the bastion of democracy and an example of a well ruled entity in this traumatic region. Like all those who decide to stoke the fire of turmoil in their country to precipitate military rule, when Macky Sall’s constitutionally allowed terms came to an end, the man wanted a third term. Due to a principled opposition to his invidious desire, the man had to give up his ignoble ambition but decided that he needs to postpone the election that is to bring in his successor. When an ambitious African King wants confusion, he generates a crisis when none whatsoever existed in his domain!
Those in the political saddles of Senegal who are desperately orchestrating this forthcoming coup do not seem to be aware of just what they are doing. Similarly, ECOWAS, the sub-regional continental body on whose territory this upcoming event is almost a forgone conclusion does not also seem to be aware of it. Or if both are aware or conscious of it, they have chosen to disregard this reality or pretend rank indifference. And until the come comes to become no one is likely to do something to prevent it.
And the tragedy of it all is that when it eventually happens, it is this same ECOWAS and his senior brother in lethargic indifference, the AU, that will rise it up to offer pious, hollow condemnation and threaten with fire and brimstone to intervene militarily to restore ‘democracy’, a democracy that was already subverted by an ambitious and greedy member of their supposed august body who never thought a hoot about that noble concept. And it is then and only then that they will start mouthing their condemnation and trying to rally support for a ‘just order’ that their conscience will convict them that they are lying. That, it was not democratic rule that was in place at all as a mischievous player in the Devil’s political workshop had suspended and annulled the so-called democracy. He even tried, unsuccessfully, to dissolve parliament.
Scarce resources that are sorely needed to fix many things in our beleaguered countries are then deployed to send ‘mediators’ and political fixers to correct the damage that has been done. World leaders will be recruited to condemn the coup. Threats of economic and diplomatic sanctions will fill the air. Those threats and diplomatic filibusters will create an appearance of some movement but they will all be motions without any real movement. The noise will get to such an extent that the in-coming new military leaders will decide that the only sane thing they will do in the circumstance to call the bluff of the old guard in African leadership is to join Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in removing themselves from a hypocritical sub-regional organization known, called and addressed as ECOWAS. It is then and only then that it will become clear to this long-suffering Africans in these parts that once again, we are on a merry-go round.
Like the OAU before it, ECOWAS has become an organization known for its lack of wisdom. It has become the trade union group of West African leaders. The body does not pretend to represent the interests of its common people. It exists principally to protect the political interests of member-leaders who call all the shots. The tragedy of Africa’s political leadership is simply the lack of hindsight, insight and foresight among them. They lack all the sights: one of thinking of events that happened some years ago that if repeated or ventured into, could bring same disastrous outcome; another is one of thinking that carrying out certain actions now can lead to ugly consequences as in earlier times that we all know about and of thinking into the near future of things that are most likely to happen if certain actions are taken. No, that is luxury for all African leaders. They just exist from day to day and hope for a miraculous God to save them and their people from the calamity that are certain to befall all of them and their most unfortunate people.
Life in much of Africa is one of predicted tragedy. Coups were a contagious and repeated tragedy of much of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and well into the 1990s before we had a respite. Now it has staged a come-back. We seem bound to welcome them and live with them.
