Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Independence & Le Folklore
When Dahomey became independent in 1960, other former French colonies started de-
porting their Dahomeyan populations. Back home without work, they were the root of a
highly unstable political situation. Three years after independence, following the example
of neighbouring Togo, the Dahomeyan military staged a coup.
During the next decade Dahomey saw four military coups, nine changes of government
and five changes of constitution: what the Dahomeyans called, in jest,
le folklore
.
Revolution
In 1972 a group of officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Mathieu Kérékou seized power in a
coup, then embraced Marxist-Leninist ideology and aligned the country with superpowers
such as China. To emphasise the break from the past, Kérékou changed the flag and re-
named the country Benin. He informed his people of the change by radio on 13 November
1975.
The government established Marxist infrastructure, which included implementing col-
lective farms. However, the economy became a shambles, and there were ethnic tensions
between the president, a Natitingou-born northerner, and the Yoruba population in the
south. There were six attempted coups in one year alone.
In December 1989, as a condition of French financial support, Kérékou ditched Marx-
ism and held a conference to draft a new constitution. The delegates engineered a coup,
forming a new cabinet under Nicéphore Soglo.
Soglo won the first free multiparty elections, held in March 1991, but his autocracy,
nepotism and austere economic measures - following the devaluation of the CFA franc -
came under fire. Kérékou was voted back into power in March 1996. Kérékou's second
and final five-year term in office finished with the presidential elections in March 2006,
bringing an end to his 33 years at the top.
TOP OF CHAPTER
People of Benin
There is an array of different ethnic groups within Benin's narrow borders, although three
of them account for nearly 60% of the population: Fon, Adja and Yoruba. The Fon and
Yoruba both migrated from Nigeria and occupy the southern and mideastern zones of
Benin.
