Abstract:
Military takeover in Africa is one of the main issues leading to political instability in the continent. Since independence, the continent of Africa has suffered a series of military coups in the different regions. In recent years, from 2021, West Africa has seen more military coups than any other region in Africa, making it the new hotspot of military takeovers. Despite the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States in the promotion of peace and tranquility through democracy, there has been a renewed increase in military takeovers in West Africa. Recently, the toppling of the democratic government of Niger by the soldiers sent a signal that military takeovers in West Africa are nowhere near ending in the subregion. In that light, ECOWAS has also renewed its firm position of condemning coups and promoting constitutional change of power, good governance, and democracy. However, ECOWAS reaction to the military takeover in Niger is different from its usual reactions to coups, which had mainly been to ensure peaceful transition, and subsequent return to civilian rule in the countries where military takeovers had occurred. Therefore, it is important to look into the issues of the Niger coup and what necessitated the attempt for a regional military response.
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