RESOLVING BENIN REPUBLIC POLITICAL CRISIS
Govern Adeniyi Adewale canvasses the closure of Nigeria-Benin Republic land border to compel President Talon to open up the political space
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also currently the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is reportedly considering all options, including the extreme measure of shutting Nigeria’s strategic land border Seme, as a possible last resort to pressure Benin Republic’s President Patrice Talon to comply with the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, regarding the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled to hold on 28th April 2019.
The ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance stipulates that all political stakeholders be allowed to participate, without any restriction whatsoever, in the entire electoral processes [i.e. pre- election, election and post- election], in order for such polls to be recognized as free, fair, transparent and credible.
The genesis of the ongoing political crisis is traceable to sometime last year when, as Benin Republic was preparing to commence the series of grassroots political activities that were expected to precede the April 2019 legislative elections, that nation’s hapless citizens received several rude shocks as President Talon unilaterally and in a heavy-handed manner, without the required, extensive consultation among the nation’s diverse political stakeholders, swiftly decreed several draconian declarations.
Initially, the introduction of humongous pre-election fees was deliberately targeted at excluding President Patrice Talon’s political opponents, while benefiting his allies. The obvious objective is presumably to enable the execution of a self-perpetuation agenda, through another attempt to amend the current constitution, if he is able to secure an overwhelming majority during the impending legislative polls.
Next, President Patrice Talon, perhaps not wanting to leave anything to chance, decreed the proscription of all the country’s opposition political parties, allowing only two parties whose membership constitute his supporters exclusively.
Then strangely and in stark contrast to the environment that one would expect in the context of a preelection season, when free and unfettered exchange of political ideas and policies should be the order of the day, President Talon suddenly decreed an inexplicable
and total ban on public gatherings; processions, debates, protests, and political campaigns; the exception being such public events that are initiated, promoted and/or sponsored by either of the two political parties, movements and/or organizations affiliated to the incumbent leader.
This panic measure was apparently precipitated by the spontaneous eruption of a series of protests across the entire Benin Republic, in response to the above listed repressive actions; the most worrying to the Beninese government probably was a massive rally that was reportedly attended by over 100,000 citizens.
Furthermore, in a move that probably brought back painful memories of that nation’s past military era, President Talon recently deployed dozens of armoured vehicles nationwide, in a pre-emptive move to quell any further people-led uprisings, such as the world is currently witnessing, most notably in the Republic of the Sudan and the Republic of Algeria.
The deteriorating political situation witnessed a new low with the declaration by Benin Republic’s Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Mr. Sacca Lafia, on Monday 15th April 2019, that he had been ordered by President Talon to impose public safety at any expense, even if it meant “killing all offenders and/or all Beninese people”.
Benin Republic’s economic fate has not fared any better since President Talon assumed office in 2016, as he has reportedly utilized his enormous power to effect complete capture of virtually all the profitable businesses in the country, thereby impoverishing the average citizen.
Taking into consideration that an earlier ECOWAS mission to Benin Republic comprising Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Oyeama and ECOWAS Commission President, Mr. Jean Claude Brou were effectively snubbed by President Patrice Talon, the Beninese people are earnestly counting on the intervention of President Buhari, to rescue them from political doom.
Meanwhile, in order to halt the grave socio-political and economic situation in Benin Republic that is degenerating by the day, in a contiguous nation that shares deep, ethnic, cultural and trade ties with Nigeria, Africa’s most important nation may, once again have to dig deep and select the most appropriate tool among all the options at its disposal (including moral, diplomatic, trade, military, etc.), to ensure that the political crisis is swiftly resolved, to the satisfaction of all the Beninese stakeholders.
It is expected that the closure of Nigeria’s land border with Benin Republic will be a very strategic instrument for leverage with the latter, which relies greatly on this particular corridor for its economic survival. In this particular instance, the shutting of the above referred Nigeria-Benin Republic land border would hit President Talon where it hurts most, as his front company is currently, reportedly controlling Benin Republic’s seaport, which in turn needs the border to remain open, in order to sustain their extremely lucrative port revenue stream.
The objective of the closure of the Nigeria-Benin land border will presumably pressure President Talon to immediately re-open Benin Republic’s political space, by implementing certain actions that meet the minimum conditions for compliance with the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
These would include, but may not be limited to the re-admission of all the opposition political parties that had previously been excluded, thereby deepening and widening the political landscape and culture; the suspension of the ongoing political process to enable prompt consultations among and betweeen all the stakeholders – a step that may culminate in the postponement of the April 2019 date for legislative election, by say thirty days.
Moreover, the punitive fees recently imposed on opposition political parties ought to be waived; while the subsisting ban on public gatherings, protests, campaigns, etc., by the opposition parties, should be lifted.
All the foregoing measures, if promptly put in place, will go a long way to create the much sought-after level playing field and restore the confidence of all the political actors, while boosting the chances for the most beneficial outcome whenever the election eventually holds.