August 2024 Events in Nigeria (Failed Coupvolution in the Context of West African Political Processes)

The article examines the possibility of interpreting the August 2024 events in Nigeria as a failed coupvolution i.e., a special type of revolutionary process that involves a combination of revolutionary mobilization of the masses with a military coup. At the same time, the authors demonstrate the feasibility of distinguishing two types of coupvolutions. While within the first type of coupvolutions mass revolutionary mobilization aimed at overthrowing the government acts as a trigger for a military coup in support of the revolution, within the second type of coupvolutions the revolutionary seizure of power through a military coup precedes mass mobilization. Drawing on the analysis of the August 2024 events in Nigeria, the authors come to the conclusion that there are justifications to classify them as a failed coupvolution of the first type. By placing these events into regional context, the authors demonstrate that many West African states adjacent to Nigeria possess a fairly deep tradition of coupvolutions. Therefore, they consider the failed attempt of coupvolution in Nigeria as an echo of the recent West African coupvolution wave.