A new wave of coups in Mali, Guinea, and recently, Burkina Faso, all francophone countries, has reawakened West Africa’s infamous nickname – “Africa’s coup belt”.

France still treats the majority of its former African colonies as politico-economic dependents, and this coincides with political instability and a high incidence of coups in these unweaned colonies.

While Nigeria has not witnessed a successful coup since its latest yield to democratic governance in 1999, many still see a steady descent from democracy to civilian autocracy and seek to flee the ensuing state of anarchy.

While socioeconomic disparities between men and women, girls and boys are slowing down in Nigeria, a gap persists with cancer incidence between women and men. The same disparity is apparent in the handling of cases of sexual abuse. The system inhibits the violated female but indulges the violent male, giving rise to medical, mental health, and ethical concerns for girls and women.

Sadly, medics and health specialists who are meant to mitigate these health injustices against women are leaving the country in droves. Like many young persons and professionals in Nigeria, doctors and nurses are fleeing because of economic inequities and general insecurity. 

France’s Unweaned Colonies: Battling terrorism and grappling with Coups

Francophone countries in the Sahel region of Africa fight on in a decade-long battle against Islamic jihadists of various sorts. The inability of the elected governments to deal decisively with the protracted insurgency, with its toll of military and civilian casualties, has been given as the reason for the recent coups.