Ibadan Journal of the Social Sciences
Volume 23, No. 2, 2025
DOI: 10.36108/ijss/5202.32.0221
Revolution or Personalist rule? The Return of Coups in Africa and the Debate on Marxism vs. Authoritarianism
Ahmad Abiola Abdulkareem1, Moshood Abiodun Olatunji2, and Ibrahim Akinola Salawu3
1,2Department of Political Science, Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria
3Department of Political Science, Summit University, Offa, Nigeria
Abstract
This study investigates whether the recent wave of military coups in Mali (2020, 2021), Guinea (2021), and Burkina Faso (2022) represents a revival of African Marxist revolutionary ideals or a regression to authoritarian personalist rule. Coup leaders have invoked revolutionary rhetoric, citing anti-imperialist icons such as Thomas Sankara and emphasizing sovereignty and resistance to Western influence. However, the authenticity of these ideological claims requires critical examination against actual governance practices. Employing historical-comparative analysis grounded in African socialist thought, this article develops an analytical framework derived from the works of Sankara, Nkrumah, Cabral, and other African Marxist thinkers. Four key indices are operationalized: economic transformation, popular mobilization, anti-imperialism and ideological coherence. Findings reveal a significant gap between revolutionary rhetoric and actual practice. Despite extensive use of Marxist symbolism, there is limited evidence of substantive socialist transformation such as wealth redistribution, collective ownership, popular mobilization, or genuine institutional reform. Instead, the analysis demonstrates patterns of elite power consolidation, democratic backsliding, suspended constitutions, and indefinite military rule. The study concludes that these coups are better characterized as “sovereigntist populism”—strategic responses to governance failures, insecurity, and public discontent that exploit revolutionary symbolism to legitimize authoritarian consolidation. This raises serious concerns for democratic sustainability and political development in West Africa.
Keywords: Military coups, authoritarianism, African socialism, Marxist ideology, democratic backsliding, West Africa