The Nigerian Military Intervention In Beninese Internal Affair -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

In my last essay entitled, The New wave of Coups in Africa, which came after the rumored coup in Guinea Bissau on the 26th of November 2025, I tried to explain the recent coup phenomenon which is predicated on poor governance and inept leadership by the African politicians that have bastardized the practice of Democracy. Unfortunately, few days after the publication came the news of attempted coup in Benin Republic. It is in the news that on 7th of December 2025 that a detachment of soldiers of the Republic of Benin Army led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri after an attack on the official residence of Mr. Patrice Talon, the president of Benin in Cotonou and those of other top-ranking military officials went on National Television to announce the overthrow of the government sparking reactions from different quarters. While the coup attempt was condemned by the African Union, European Union and ECOWAS, it received applause the social media, the Beninese people and the social media users worldwide.

The next day on the orders of France that has lost its military base in Mali following the Sahel revolution sent out, Nigeria sent out fighter jet to Benin to dislodge the coup plotters. Ordinarily, one could be deceived into thinking that this obtrusive intervention by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was for interest of democracy but clearly, that’s not. As I pointed somewhere, Democracy is not working Africa because the practioners are not doing the right thing and so military coups are inevitable in Africa no matter the campaign to suppress it. And whenever it occurs the first people to applaud it are the people who have impoverished by corrupt and unscrupulous politicians.

Tinubu’s government is the worst in the history of Nigeria. Since seizing power in May, 2023, the democratic gains made by Nigeria since 1999 have been reversed  by Tinubu’s greed and lust for power; by his divisive tendencies, obnoxious policies and insidious quest to destabilize other parties and turn Nigeria into a one-party state. Tinubu’s charge to his minions to grab, snatch and run away with ballot boxes present him as a non-democrat. It is therefore hypocritical for him to seek to restore democracy in another country he has destroyed democracy in his own country.

Secondly, what Tinubu did was a violation of the internal affairs of another country; something he complained about when Donald Trump, the America president threatened to send troops into Nigeria to avert killing and blood-letting unleashed on the hapless Nigerian citizens since the coming of the All Progressives Congress regime in 2015. And this further highlights Tinubu’s hypocrisy and insensitivity in handling the affairs of governance. Tinubu is desperate and ready to please external powers for the purpose of retaining power. That is why he could obey Micron to send soldiers to Benin Republic to ostensibly to restore democracy while he could not deploy soldiers to tackle insecurity that has made life hell Nigerian citizens. Tinubu has made himself a stooge to France, his second home where he spent most of his time since coming to power in 2023.

Without doubt, the intervention by Tinubu in the internal affairs of Benin may cause diplomatic between the two countries. Tinubu government is obviously poor in diplomacy. The government seems to be only interested in falsehood and propaganda. Under Tinubu as ECOWAS Chairman ECOWAS which used to be united splitted, with Mali, Niger and Burkina-Faso pulling out to form the Sahel Group.

It is indeed unfortunate that cannot swiftly attack bandits and terrorists controlling a huge swathe of Nigerian territory, the way he intervene in another country. This seems to give credence to the insinuations that the government are the ones sponsoring armed banditry in Nigeria otherwise how can terrorists operate the way they do and still o scot free? It was Abacha who once said that if insurgency lasts more than 24hours then the government’s hand is in it. This word of Abacha is beginning to make sense to me now. The APC government spent over a billion tax payers’ money to plan the abduction of Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya against international protocol but cannot apprehend the terrorist operating in our forests and high ways. The APC government spend humongous sums of money annually on security and yet the country is buffeted East, West, North and South by terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, herdsmen and different militia groups. What a shame!

The way Tinubu got retro-active approval from the National Assembly after deploying Nigerian to the Benin Republic indicates that our NASS is very weak. The current National Assembly led by Senator Akpabio is the weakest in the history of Nigeria. It acts as the rubber stamp of the president. It approves every garbage from the president.

While I do not canvass for violent of change of government I must state that coups in Africa are inevitable as long as the African leaders are betraying their people and abusing power. The current coup in Benin Republic brings to 17 the number of coup attempts in Africa since 2020. As I observed in my earlier essay, the causes of these coups may not be the inordinate ambition of young military officers but the growing autocracy of those in power, inability of the leadership to provide the basic needs of the ordinary citizens, manipulation of the electoral process among others.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed 

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com

An actress, social activist, politician

London, UK