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ANALYSIS: With Traore, Burkina Faso can get governance right, achieve developmental aspirations

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Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré

The challenge will be translating Burkina Faso’s rich mineral resources and promising economy into stability and development.

At 36, Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré is the world’s youngest president, in stark contrast to Africa’s average leader age of 63. He took office in September 2022 after overthrowing Paul-Henri Damiba, who had ousted former president Roch Kaboré earlier that year.

The foundations of the country’s coup administration have been rocky. Last week, the military government survived another apparent coup attempt; one among several since Mr Traoré, an army captain, came to power.

In his inaugural statement, Mr Traoré said Burkina Faso faced an emergency, citing crises in security, defence, healthcare, social action and infrastructure. He pledged to combat terrorism and adhere to the transition timetable agreed with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which aimed to restore democratic rule by 1 July 2024.

However, Burkina Faso has since withdrawn from ECOWAS, forming instead the Alliance of Sahel States with Mali and Niger – countries also run by post-coup administrations. Under Burkina Faso’s new transition plan, Mr Traoré may remain in his position until at least 2029.

His popularity has soared since his ascension to power. At President John Mahama’s inauguration in Ghana on 7 January, Mr Traoré received the loudest applause of all 21 African heads of state. This showed not only his popularity but the trend of tolerance for military rule in Africa, especially among the youth.

Afrobarometer reports that almost two-thirds of Burkinabé believe the army should intervene when leaders abuse their power. Likewise, 66 per cent accept military rule, up from 24 per cent in 2012. The fact that the survey was conducted at a time when the country was under military rule portrays a general acceptance of the regime.

However, Mr Traoré’s popularity goes beyond acceptance of military rule. He has embarked on radical reforms that resonate with many Burkinabé. These include reversing his predecessor’s salary increase for government officials while he remainson his military captain earnings.

As part of efforts to take ownership of mineral resources, Mr Traoré has nationalised two gold mines and stopped exporting unrefined gold to Europe, instead inaugurating a national gold refinery expected to process 150 tonnes annually.

Other significant achievements include establishing the National Support Center for Artisanal Cotton Processing, building a new airport, and considerable agricultural investment.

While these are noble attempts to industrialise Burkina Faso, the country must not fall into the usual traps of inefficiencies, corruption and mismanagement that characterise most African state-owned enterprises.

Further, Mr Traoré has rejected financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, insisting the country can develop without the West’s loans and conditionalities. For some, this is a demonstration of Africans handling their own affairs. For the youth, Mr Traoré’s regime is a chance to show what young people can achieve. But for most ordinary Burkinabé, the priority is simply improving their daily living conditions.

At a time of increasing global uncertainty and a decline in international aid, Africa must strive for self-reliance and control of its resources. Like many African countries, Burkina Faso is blessed with natural resources that, if properly managed, could transform citizens’ lives.

The country has mineral resources and produces substantial quantities of gold, zinc, copper, manganese, phosphate and limestone. It also has reserves of diamonds, bauxite, nickel and vanadium, most of which remain largely unexploited.

The country has made gains. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (in market exchange rate) increased from $3.2 billion in 1990 to $18.3 billion in 2023, and extreme poverty declined from 83 per cent to 27.7 per cent in the same period. But significant challenges remain.

According to the 2023/2024 Human Development Report, Burkina Faso is classified as having low human development and is ranked 185th out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index. Itplaced 149th out of 167 countries on the 2024 Sustainable Development Goals Index, and on the Multidimensional Poverty Index, 64.5 per cent of the population is multidimensionally poor.

However, the economy holds significant promise. Recent research by the Institute for Security Studies’ African Futures and Innovation team shows that Burkina Faso’s economy could grow at an average rate of 8 per cent from 2025 to 2043.

This would translate into an additional GDP per capita of $1,120 above a business-as-usual forecast – and reduce income poverty to only 2.6 per cent of the population. This means an extra 2.4 million Burkinabés could be lifted out of poverty by 2043.

The study identified governance reforms as critical to unlocking the country’s development potential. Indeed, good governance could raise GDP per capita by an extra $240 above a business-as-usual forecast, lifting 500,000 additional Burkinabé out of extreme poverty.

For this, Mr Traoré must lead the country in overcoming political instability, violent extremism and weak institutions. Institutional and structural reforms are needed to enhance security, accountability, public sector efficiency and governance inclusion.

The immediate priority is addressing terrorism, which resulted in the loss of about 40 per cent of the country’s territory, undermining the state’s authority and ability to deliver public services, as thousands of schools and health facilities are closed in those areas. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that over two million people are internally displaced, and those needing humanitarian assistance increased by 35 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

Next should be building strong institutions and strengthening existing ones to improve public sector efficiency and combat corruption. Local governments must be empowered with the resources and capacity to implement development programmes tailored to communities’ needs.

In the medium term, the country must transition into constitutional rule to ensure the political stability and legitimacy needed to drive economic growth. This would also enhance investor confidence, allowing Burkina Faso to attract the foreign direct investment needed for its development. The African Union, civil society organisations and development partners should support the 60-month transition plan to ensure a smooth transition to democracy.

This is not the first time such a charismatic figure has emerged on Africa’s political scene. Many revolutionary leaders started the same way but later deviated from the course as they clung to power. In Ghana, 32-year-old Jerry Rawlings, nicknamed ‘Junior Jesus’, emerged in late 1979 in a bloody revolution to fight corruption and sanitise the country’s political system. But after 19 years in power, his legacy was mixed.

With a young, strong, charismatic leader, Burkina Faso has a chance to get its governance right and achieve its developmental aspirations. This could be a lasting legacy for Traoré’s regime.

Enoch Randy Aikins, Researcher, African Futures and Innovation, Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

Politics

Barr, Chief Willie Amadi retires from active partisan politics.

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Former Federal Commission
er/Ombudsman in the Public Complaints Commission Nigeria and immediate past Chief Technical Adviser to the Government of Imo State on Environment, Barr. Chief Willie Amadi, says there is a hopless and total loss of confidence by the common man in the Nigerian Judicial system.

This is even as Barr Amadi opined that the situation could also be blamed on the the prevailing and increasing daily hardship in the country due to unabated bad governance by both the political class, civil servants and business men doing business with governments at all levels.

The London and Nigeria trained legal practitioner, former Special Adviser on Sanitation & Transport and pioneer General Manager of Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission,
under which his Clean & Green initiative won the cleanest State capital award in the country on three consecutive time back to back, regretted that the deliberate and sustained diminishing of the powers of our critical regulatory institutions such as the EFCC, CODE OF CONDUCT BUREAU, POLICE, INEC and most unfortunately and sadly, the once revered JUDICIARY by the political class amounts to the burial program of our great nation. These institutions have now become lame ducks and totally subservient to the whimps and caprices of the ruling class and foreigners with vested and manipulative interests in our mineral and natural resources.

Amadi, an Environmentalist who recently unveiled his second book, “The Ombudsman and Justice Delivery in Nigeria~ Challenges and Prospects”
expressed shock that our apex court which is today on serious trial, has turned to “the main hope of corrupt men and no longer, the last hope of the common man”

He further lamented that the prevailing “lack of consequences” syndrome which has become the norm today has given today’s power brokers and nouveau de rich the impetus to deliberately and recklessly breach the law with impunity as nothing will happen, because their actions are now condoned by the judiciary, going by the avalanche of negotiated, scary and shameless judgments delivered without any shade of justice component. This ugly development have not only scared many foreign investors whose business cannot be protected by the Nigerian judicial system in the event of breach, but has also psychologically dehumanised and discouraged citizens from seeking redress and justice through our law courts. Barr. Amadi warned that forcing citizens to resort to self help remedy as an alternative by the helpless citizens may be the delicate way forward with dire consequences, if care is not taken. A Stitch in time, therefore will save nine he advised.

Barr Amadi equally wondered if the rich leaders who are in power today have noticed that “temperatures” are rising daily on the streets and could occasion a sudden mob reaction from the poor masses. He warned that immediate enthronement of good governance, rule of law and protection of citizen’s fundamental rights, remains the only escape route for the very near future.

On whether it is imperative to restructure the Nigeria judiciary, the National Assembly and by extension the Country. Amadi regretted that while both arms of government have been dangerously compromised and bought over by the Executive arm they are supposed to monitor, it is only the preservation of strong institutions that can guarantee good governance in Nigeria as experienced in other climes where strong institutions hold sway, dictate and guide on authorities on due process and decisions to be taken in governance. He cited the powers of the police and the courts, particularly the Supreme Court of the United States and the recent avalanche of Executive Orders signed by the POTUS. He recalled that late Senate Presidents Okadigbo, Nnamani and Speaker Ghali Nabba led National Assembly were the last presiding officers of the National Assembly that brought dignity, honor and integrity to the legislature. He reasoned that any restructured sub nationals without strong institutions will still experience the same failure of a federation like we are currently experiencing.

On rising insecurity in Nigeria, he recalled that the issue of insurgency and sponsored criminality including unreported genocide against Christians in Nigeria from 2015 till date, eventually culminated in forcing the United States of America to finally and rightly designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern”. The protracted insecurity of today, he recalled, began with the clear sabotage of the Jonathan’s administration using the Chibok girls saga, a trap which was designed to stop Jonathan’s second term bid.

Surprisingly, that escalation later boomeranged under late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration who pretentious support for foreign criminal elements and religious extremists entry into the country through an open boarder control and passages for his 2015 Presidential election became a thorn in the flesh of the administration after the election.

Sadly, Buhari failed to manage the self infliction, which eventually messed up his administration, an administration which condoned an unprecedented massive looting and outright embezzlement of our commonwealth by a section of the country including the destruction of values of good governance, accountability and management of the economy.

According to him, the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited the huge mess and it does appear that the administration could be paying for and or attoning for their sins in the conspiracy leading to the 2015 Presidential election against Goodluck Jonathan.

On the recent threat by President Donald Trump on invading Nigeria to stop the genocide and flushing out the rampaging terrorists, Barr Amadi advised the country to quickly leverage on the United States likely intervention and appeal to the American government to establish a military base in Nigeria in order to permanently eradicate this hydra headed insurgency and ultimately tranquilize the Sahel region. The legal luminary insisted that the buck stops on Mr. President’s table, and as such, he alone takes full responsibility for the escalating insecurity in the country. He insisted that Mr. President must act fast and ignore naive and mercantile diplomatic opinion analysts to avoid further damage to a fractured nation.

On the issue of Imo Charter of Equity, the Owerri Nchise-born socialite, politician and clan High Chief of the five autonomous communities of Owere expressed optimism that an Imo Governor of Owerri Zone extraction shall emerge in 2027, God willing.

He announced of his retirement from active partisan politics on his 65th birthday on November 30th 2027, but added that during the transition period, he will continue to Chair the Social Media sub-committee at Imo Harmony Project, an umbrella body of eminent Owerri Zone sons and daughters that is strategically pushing for an Imo governor of Owerri Zone extraction, when he believes that, his involvement and contributions in politics will be rested with the blessed assurance of the Charter of Equity.

Barr Amadi, a scholar and doctorate degree candidate of Law said that he will focus on research, writing and teaching of law in the Universities, post 2027.

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Politics

Buhari Ex-aide, Bashir Ahmad Reveals Next Two Governors to Join APC

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Bashir Ahmad, ex-media aide to former president, Muhammadu Buhari has boasted that two governors will decamp to the All Progressives Congress, APC in a matter of days.

He stated this in a post on his X page on Tuesday.

According to him, the governor of Taraba state, Agbu Kefas and another of his counterpart from the North West, will join the ruling party “in a matter of days”.

Ahmad wrote: “In just a matter of days, the Governor of Taraba State and another Governor from the North West will officially join our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

As at June 2025, at least two incumbent governors had decamped to the APC.

They include Pastor Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom State) and Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta State).

The governor of Enugu, Peter Mbah, is heavily rumoured to be the next to jump ship.

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Tinubu’s Minister, Uche Nnaji Resigns Over Alleged Certificate Forgery

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Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology has tendered his resignation.

He resigned following some allegations of certificate forgery against him.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s media aide Bayo Onanuga who confirmed the resignation in a statement, said the president has accepted the Minister’s decision.

According to Onanuga, Tinubu has “accepted the resignation of Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, following some allegations against him.

“President Tinubu appointed Nnaji in August 2023.

“He resigned today in a letter thanking the President for allowing him to serve Nigeria.

“Nnaji said he has been a target of blackmail by political opponents.

“President Tinubu thanked him for his service and wished him well in future endeavours”.

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