Is the 21st Century Africa’s moment for Peace and Political Stability?

By Edwin Okon jr… After twenty-two years in power, Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh graciously conceded defeat on Friday, December 2, 2016 to his opponent Adama Barrow in a stunning upset. No one saw this coming. At first, when I heard of Gambian elections holding, I concluded, that the results would return as usual with President Jammeh cruising to victory but I was wrong. Gambians decided and chose the true outsider – Adama Barrow, a property developer who once worked in London as a security guard.

With Yahya Jammeh’s concession phone call to Barrow, he becomes the 12^th African president to willingly hand over the reins of power to his successor without seeking to contest or fight against the will of the people through violence and unnecessary bloodshed. Of course, this is quite commendable considering he has been in power for twenty-two years. For political scientists and analysts who understand the dynamics of African power struggles, losing an election and conceding defeat after two decades of control is worthy of adulation.

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Perhaps the 21^st century is Africa’s moment to witness peaceful transition and political stability. Abdou Diouf of Senegal began the trend when he successfully handed over to Abdoulaye Wade in 2000 followed by Burundi, Malawi, Zambia and to ensure that this tradition was here stay Nigeria’s own Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 conceded to his successor Muhammadu Buhari. This has signaled to the world that African leaders and countries have begun to appreciate the need for political stability as a recipe for economic growth. Kenya is an example of a nation recovering from post-election violence in 2007. Post-election violence has always been a major clog in the economic wheel of African development resulting in loss of lives and property, poverty, internal displacement of people, increase in refugees, asylum seekers and loss of investments.

Therefore, with political stability and peaceful transitions, this justifies that Africa has come of age and it is time for African countries to look at accelerated economic growth. African leaders need to fast track job creation, promote and create investment opportunities, fight corruption and improve gender inequality to consolidate on the gains achieved democratically. The 21^st century is Africa’s moment to rise above her challenges.

 

 

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