webGuinée

Hakeem Jamiu
Nigeria: Who Will Save Guinea?

Daily Independent (Lagos)
7 October 2009

Lagos — Guinea, a West African country of 10 million people, obtained her independence from France 50 years ago. But just like many African countries, its people remain one of world's poorest with 40% living below the poverty line despite having diamond, gold, iron and half of the world's reserves of the raw materials used to make aluminum.

Post-independence history of Guinea has been characterized by military dictatorship, repression, poverty and a succession of wars fought along its borders in the 1990s and early 2000s in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Guinea-Conakry (as it is often called to distinguish it from its neighbour, Guinea Bissau) is home to 24 ethnic groups and has its capital in Conakry. Ironically, it was the only French colony to opt for independence in 1958. President Sekou Toure governed Guinea from 1958 until his death in 1984. Toure was dictatorial as he allowed no opposing views. Lansana Conte took over in 1984 after Toure's death and ruled Guinea in the same dictatorial manner until he also expired in 2008. The first elections since independence were only held in 1993 but were widely believed to have been manipulated by Conte. Although the President of the National Assembly was to take over power pending fresh elections, Moussa Dadis Camara, 44, an army captain, seized power in December, 2008 just hours after the death of Lansana Conte. Camara announced that the constitution had been set aside and that the country was under the rule of a military junta. He initially said he would not stand in elections scheduled for January but recently indicated that he may have changed his mind.

On Monday, 28th September, more than 150 civilians protesting the candidature of Camara in January's election were killed by soldiers while about 1,253 sustained injuries. It was reported that women were openly raped by soldiers. For this, France, through her foreign Minister, served notice that it was no longer supporting the military junta. But France ought to have been more proactive. It is countries like France, Nigeria and Senegal that gave Camara the confidence that made him change his earlier promise of not participating in the forthcoming elections. He started gaining confidence when the opposition was pacified by emissaries from Nigeria like former President Ibrahim Babangida. Senegal and France also supported him.

The event in Guinea follows the dangerous pattern of sit tight-leaders in Africa. They are always arranging elections so as to perpetuate their stay in office. The Eyademas, Mobutus, Mugabes, Abachas and Babangidas of this world had all been a bad example of leadership from whom military rulers like Captain Dadis Camara is taking a cue. It is a misnomer that Babangida was one of the emissaries sent to the coup leaders in Guinea and the result is what we have seen. Babangida shifted his own handing over to a democratically-elected civilian regime many times and it is not a surprise that Camara, who can be described as Babangida's student, has taken after him by extending the earlier six months stay before election and changing his mind to contest the January 2010 elections. The tradition of repression follows the example of Babangida and Abacha of Nigeria. Abacha, during the June 12 annulment protest, ordered his soldiers to open fire on protesting civilians on the streets of Lagos, felling about 100 people in the process. If Camara participates in the election, it would be rigged blindly and any protester should know what fate awaits him judging by Monday's massacre.

It is still a paradox that Nigeria is pretending to export democratic ethos that she doesn't have while in actual fact, she exports dictatorship, coups and election rigging. During the regime of Abacha, certain military officers were sent to The Gambia to train the armed forces of that country. Not long after the Nigerian military officers got to that country, there was a military coup in which Yayah Jammeh, who later transmuted to a civilian President, emerged the Head of State. This is the type of exports Nigeria gives to other countries. Blaise Compraore has been appointed by ECOWAS to facilitate negotiations but Compraore's own track record leaves much to be desired.

The opposition in Guinea has called for foreign intervention to save the country from imminent descent into anarchy but Camara has vowed to fight any foreign troop deployed to Guinea while he shamelessly refuses to accept responsibility for the massacre of civilians. Camera claimed he was not fully in control of the army that wrecked havoc on defenseless civilians but promised to investigate the incident and punish the offenders. But the question is: how does he punish those he has no control over? It is very sad that Africa has not fully purged herself of the cankerworm of military incursion into her politics. One only hopes that a new vista of military governance has not been opened in Africa once again. This is a wake-up call on world bodies such as the ECOWAS, AU, UNO and the European Union to immediately help Guinea by intervening and put in check the bestiality of Camara and his rampaging soldiers before they unleash a worse holocaust on Guinean people.