Until We Get Right Leaders, Coups Will Continue In Africa – Prof Okenwa

African countries should embrace true democracy, otherwise the continent will continue to experience a feast of military coups.

Prof Nnamdi Okenwa, Head of the Department of Mass Communication, Coal City University, Enugu, stated this in Enugu during an interview. He blamed Africa’s colonial masters for the emerging political instabilities on the continent.

He said, “If we mean democracy, everybody knows what it means. Something leads to another. There is nobody who will say they don’t know why these things are happening.

“Clips of what is happening in Gabon and Niger mean people are rejoicing over the military takeover of governments in those countires. The celebrations there mean the season of anomie is over for the populace.”

He said the celebrations in both Gabon and Niger could be interpreted that people are being reawakened.

In his words, “People are realising that the colonial masters have not gone away. We hear about minerals that we never knew they existed. Gabon is very rich in oil, but rated among the poorest in the world.

” The same thing applies to Niger. It shows their colonial masters are by the corner, milking them. France uses Niger’s uranium to make nuclear weapons, but Niger gets power supply from Nigeria. Meanwhile, uranium can generate the same power.

“Again, politicians make promises; soldiers too. Until we get that set of leaders who are committed to good leadership, I am not sure if we have come to an end. I don’t know when next. But there is anger.”