Burkina Faso

Black spring indeed?
By Cyprian Ntiamba Obi Ntui in Yaounde
Some media organs, especially those of the Western world, have described the unceremonious exit of Blaise Compaore as the on set of “The Black Spring.”
    They and even some individuals are insinuating that what happened in Tunisia, Egypt, Lybia, Syria and other Arab countries will spiral across other countries in Africa South of the Sahara.
    It is worth noting that it was the media that gave the tag “Arab spring” to those uprisings.
    In normal circumstances, when we talk of “Spring” we are referring to season of freshness and greenery – The onset of a time to sow so that you can reap a great harvest.   
    But the turmoil that has continued to hold sway in nations that went through the so called “Arab Spring” should serve as a warning to Cameroon that still enjoys a certain measure of stability. Even other African nations that are still experimenting their fragile democratic systems should not see Burkina Faso and Arab Spring nations as good examples to follow.

    If you ask an ordinary Egyptian if the forceful exit of Moubarack has brought him any good the answer will obviously be negative. Similarly, the average Libyan has not witnessed any dramatic improvement in his life since Gadhafi was booted out of power.
    Throwing away a system that has existed for many decades in a disorderly manner, even if that system had many shortcomings, only opens the door for something worse to come in.
    Already, Burkinabe’s are accusing the army of “confiscating” their revolution. Just like in Egypt where the people had to battle with the military for many years, Burkinabes could be in for a similar scenario. The truth is that power is sweet and many soldiers see such vacuums as an opportunity to get a taste of it.
    But the dilemma is that when a disruption is created within the leadership an orderly transition of power becomes impossible without military intervention.
    Political uprisings and instability of governments are the gold mines from which the forces of destabilization feed fat. World wide, these forces keep pushing disgruntled citizens to undermine state institutions and constituted authority. It is therefore left for the citizens to understand the intrigues going on so as to avoid being caught in the trap. Experience world wide has shown that there is no perfect polity. It is all a matter of trying to improve on a continuous basis.
    One thing we share in common be you ruler or the ruled is love for fatherland. This love we can only manifest by respecting the constitution to which we all agreed to be governed by. This is the only way to stop the masses from carrying placards and marching to presidential palaces to chase out sit-tight rulers.   
    Compaore has gone but that may just be the beginning of more problems for Burkinafaso.