<P> West African political history has been characterised by African socialism . Senghor, Nkrumah and Touré all embraced the idea of African socialism, whereas Houphouët - Boigny and Liberia's William Tubman remained suspicious of it . 1983 saw the rise of socialist Thomas Sankara, often titled the "Che Guevara of Africa", to power in Burkina Faso . </P> <P> Since independence, West Africa has suffered from the same problems as much of the African continent, particularly dictatorships, political corruption and military coups . At the time of his death in 2005, for example, Togo's Étienne Eyadéma was among the world's longest - ruling dictators . Inter-country conflicts have been few, with Mali and Burkina Faso's nearly bloodless Agacher Strip War being a rare exception . </P> <P> The region of West Africa has seen a number of civil wars in its recent past including the Nigerian Civil War (1967--1970), two civil wars in Liberia in 1989 and 1999, a decade of fighting in Sierra Leone from 1991--2002, the Guinea - Bissau Civil War from 1998--1999 and a recent conflict in Côte d'Ivoire that began on 2002 ending 2007 and a second conflict in 2010--11 . </P> <P> After gaining full independence from the British Empire in 1963, Nigeria established the first republic . The republic was heavily influenced by British democracy and relied on majority rule . The first republic fell after a successful coup d'état led by southern Nigerian rebels on 15 January 1966 . </P>

What common feature linked the kingdoms and empires of west africa