Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has cautioned African nations against succumbing to neo-colonial pressures from foreign entities like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Speaking at an awards ceremony in Accra, Ghana, Falana emphasized the historical significance of the venue, where President Kwame Nkrumah wrote about neocolonialism.
He challenged journalists to scrutinize economic policies, stating that following IMF and World Bank prescriptions has led to underdevelopment.
Falana also urged the African Union and ECOWAS to address the resurgence of coups in Africa, including instances of unconstitutional changes of government.
“In the 90s, people led the struggle on the continent to demilitarize and banish military rule from the political system, but today, four (African) governments have been taken over,” Falana said.
“It is not only when you have the military rolling out the tanks that we talk about the unconstitutional change of government; When an elected president whose tenure is four or five years decides midway to manipulate the constitution in order to elongate his tenure, for me, that is an unconstitutional change of government. ECOWAS and the AU must address this dangerous phenomenon,” he added.
