Paper short abstract:

At independence, West African countries adopted the democratic system of governance which was later toppled by the military. After years of military rule, democracy was enthroned. Recent development shows that military regime is finding its way back. The paper revealed the causes.

Paper long abstract:

West Africa countries except the Republic of Liberia were colonized, suffered social disruption and economic exploitations and were granted political independence without economic freedom as Neo-colonialism was noticed. At independence, West African countries adopted the western form of democracy with the hope of building unity and enhancing economic development. Not too long a period of democratic practice, the military took over the governance of these new states. The pressures from the domestic environment and the global system forced the military to relinquish power and civil rule was enthroned through the democratic process. Recent development shows that there is a resurgence of military administration in some West Africa as countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are presently under military rule.The fear of more West African states falling back to military rule has enveloped the region. The paper utilised Secondary source of data,Frustration Aggression Theory and Content Analysis to study the challenges of democracy in West Africa and the resurgence of military Administration in the 21st century. The study discovered that West African political leaders have failed to enthrone true democracy as well as purposeful leadership in their various states. More so, the continuous interference in the economic and political affairs of some West African countries by former colonial masters angered the military men who ascribe nationalism as their propelling force to topple the political leadership accused of collaboration to undermine development.The paper recommended among others that there should be a re-engineering of the democratic process and governance in West Africa