EDITORIAL: West Africa’s Coup Trend Is a Warning We Must Not Ignore

West Africa’s Coup Trend Is a Warning We Must Not Ignore

West Africa is slipping into a worrying cycle. In the last four years alone, the region has recorded over seven coups and attempted coups, the highest concentration anywhere in the world. From Mali and Burkina Faso to Niger, and now the strange, staged political drama - “coup”, in Guinea Bissau. The pattern is unmistakable: democratic progress is under real threat.

Guinea Bissau’s episode is particularly troubling. A president announcing his own “overthrow” while freely speaking to the media is not a genuine coup; it is political theatre designed to interrupt an election. When leaders toy with democracy this openly, the damage goes beyond politics, it erodes public trust and invites instability.

Nigeria’s recent scare in October 2025 adds to the tension. Reports that 16 military officers were detained over an alleged plot immediately stirred national anxiety. Even though the military denied an active coup attempt, the reaction showed how deeply past military takeovers still haunt the country. Nigeria has experienced six successful coups since independence, so even a rumor is enough to shake confidence.

Across the region, the same issues fuel these disruptions: weakened institutions, insecure economies, frustrated youths, and political leaders who treat elections as personal property. And while ECOWAS once acted decisively as it did during Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010 crisis, its current hesitation risks normalizing these interruptions.

Military takeovers have never delivered lasting solutions. They scare investors away, worsen unemployment, and silence civic freedoms. Each coup pulls the region several years backward.

West Africa is at a turning point.
Either governments and regional bodies confront this rising coup culture with transparency and firmness,
or decades of democratic gains will continue to unravel.

The message must remain clear: the people’s mandate - not force, not manipulation, should determine leadership in West Africa.

“What does this precedent tell you about where the region is heading?”


Mabel Ogunleye 
Editor-in-Chief,
DSNA

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