I remember ten years ago when I researched the politics in African countries for a class assignment. The research was not an elaborate project, and I did not grasp the full historical movement that is continuously shaping the countries in Africa today. But, I remember ending my research by hopefully proposing that there might be hope for good government in the developing parts of Africa.

Unfortunately, history seems to like repeating itself in order to show the world that humanity hasn’t learned from the past. The Republic of Niger recently had a coup by the military leaders. From reading various news articles, the previous civilian government did not seemed to fair well with the public, and the previous President was heavily criticized for extending his Presidential terms beyond the rules in the Constitution.

Thus, the military was fed up with the civilian government and decided to oust civilian government officials. The situation is tense in the region as the world is monitoring whether the military junta would keep its promise and have free elections for the next civilian government.

But the hope for good government is becoming more distant as the cycle of corrupted civilian government and military take over continues on for these African states. The main problem is that the economies in this region seemed to be fueling frustration by the citizens. With government already plagued by corruption, it was a matter of time until a new revolutionary event like a coup change the direction of politics once more.

In the most realistic terms, I do not think we can get rid of corruption in any government. However, developing African countries can move closer to good government if their economies improve in the long run. With a military take over hampering foreign investments, the next civilian government needs to take a serious focus on economic development and win the legitimacy from its citizens.

From there, a little corruption wouldn’t cause another military coup, although getting rid of corruption in its entirety seem to be a more appealing idea.