The e United States consul general in Nigeria, Mr Will Stevens, has said that military takeover of governments in Africa will not solve the continent’s problems.
The envoy stated this yesterday in Abeokuta, Ogun State in his address to students on ‘Recycling waste to wealth challenge’ competition for secondary school students.
‘Recycling Waste to Wealth Challenge is a U.S. government-supported enterprise competition for students in secondary schools as well as vocational and technical colleges in Ogun State.
Stevens said the continent is bedeviled with challenges, including climate change and food insecurity but warned that only democratic stability can help in resolving its problems.
He said blamed the military takeover of governments on the continent the refusal of some leaders to hand over power after their tenure in office.
Stevens said African leaders must embrace the tenets of democracy and uphold a peaceful transition of power.
He noted that Nigeria has enjoyed 24 years of uninterrupted peaceful democratic succession and urged other African countries to learn from it.
“I hope and feel that you (Africa) can fix the problems and the problems are big; its climate change which leads to flooding, it is plastics pollution, it is food insecurity, it is the backsliding of democracy in the region.
“Obasanjo served two terms and left power, he set the precedent in Nigeria of you serve and then you step aside for your successor.
“Nigeria has enjoyed 25 years of presidential succession. President Buhari just did the same thing, he served his two terms and then he stepped aside. That is a big deal in democracy – peaceful transitions of power. That is a huge thing to be proud of, It does not happen very often.
“There are presidents of neighbouring countries that have been there for a very, very long time, 20, 30, 40 years, this leads to democratic instability, it leads to coups.
“Nigeria is the fourth largest democracy in the world, you just had a successful presidential transition, and successful elections, this is something you should not take for granted. The idea that people can come into power, they can serve and then leave is really cool,” the envoy stated
Recall that the military recently seized power in Gabon, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. There were also failed coup attempts in Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and Sao Tome and Principe.
