African countries have had nine successful military coups since 2020. In west and central Africa, there have been at least 10 coup attempts in the same period. Those of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Guinea were successful. A number of social, economic and political factors have been identified as responsible for the truncation of democracy in those countries.
In this interview, The Conversation Africa asks political scientist Abdul-Wasi Babatunde Moshood, who has recently published research on preventing military coups in Nigeria, about what drives coups, whether those factors are present in Nigeria and what steps Nigeria could take to protect its democracy.
