His prediction follows the military overthrow of three different West African governments within one year, with the latest being the ousting of Roch Kabore of Burkina Faso by military leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba and his gang of unhappy soldiers on January 24, 2022.

“This would not be the end of it. Between now and June 2023, we would see similar things happen. Probably two more. If we don’t stem the tides between now and 2023 then we get two more, the pack of cards will begin to fall,” he said as quoted by Myjoyonline.com.

While speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, January 29, Ening entreated the regional bloc, ECOWAS and the African Union (AU) to urgently put proactive measures in place to end political instability in the subregion.

According to him, the wave of military overthrows being experienced in West Africa has more to do with selfish manipulation of democracy for political gains than soldiers taking delight in mutinying.

“What is failing West Africa and the Sahel is not the military penchant for power; unfortunately, it is democracy and how we run it and implement it that is failing us…Pulling back from that brake, unconstitutionality is when the military takes power and when people play games with the constitutional process… So we need to expand that physiology and to ensure we do things differently,” he stated.

Burkina Faso has joined the likes of Mali and Guinea as West African countries to have experienced military overthrows – all within the spate of one year.

The Damiba-led gang blamed the military take-over on Kabore’s seeming loss of control over insecurity posed by militia groups to the security forces and the Burkinabes.