Benin erupted in sound and color again this weekend as Cotonou shook to the rhythm of a rarefied music festival hosted by the president’s son. International acts, a dazzling set-up, enormous publicity: it was all intended to give the country two and a half hours of collective euphoria, despite Benin’s political instability.
But while the spotlight shone on the stage, another reality lurked in the shadows.
What makes this contrast politically significant is not the existence of entertainment itself, but the timing, message, and national attention it demands when public debate shrinks and material problems increase. At such moments, celebration can become more than culture. It can become a narrative strategy.
Food insecurity in Benin behind the celebrations
Benin still faces severe food insecurity. In the 2025 Global Hunger Index, it has a score of 25.9, indicating that the hunger situation in this country is alarming, as in many other states where a large number of people do not have access to hearty and nutritious food.
Glossy economic and nutrition statistics are contradicted by the World Food Program, which says many Beninese children are chronically malnourished and remain entrenched in deep poverty.
Also read: The food crisis is deepening as 1 billion Africans are malnourished
Political stability under pressure after the attempted coup in Benin in December 2025
Political stability, one of the strongest in the region, is also under pressure. On December 7, 2025, elements of the military mutinied attempted coupattacking military barracks and the presidential palace in Cotonou before being defeated by soldiers loyal to the president.
Meanwhile, foreign organizations have criticized Benin’s deteriorating civil liberties and the intensification of restrictions on activists, journalists and political opponents, often on dubious legal grounds.
Also read: Benin’s Constitutional Erosion and the December 2025 Coup Attempt
Marx and the logic of spectacle as social opiate
It is in this context that Karl Marx’s famous sentence takes on special significance.
Marx called religion “the opium of the people,” not because it is pernicious in itself, but because faith often serves as a balm for social suffering. It is comforting, it gives reason for injustice, it enables one to bear what seems unbearable. But in providing this comfort, it can distract from the real sources of people’s unhappiness: poverty, exploitation, political domination.
For Marx, religious illusion is not the fundamental problem, but the social reality that produces this illusion. It is not just that one should criticize illusions, but rather demand true happiness, that is, transformation of the material (social) conditions that cause suffering.
Such a function can now be assigned elsewhere: to the great spectacle, to mass entertainment or to official culture. If celebration helps to quell anger, if music is a substitute for debate, if public emotion substitutes for social justice, then entertainment serves as social opium for Marx’s religion.
Benin’s Political Instability: The Costs of Dissent
And this criticism has a very tangible political dimension when we think about the situation of critics and opponents who are in prison or under repression:
Reckya Madougou, a former minister and presidential candidate, was arrested on March 3, 2021 and sentenced to life in prison in a case deemed politically motivated.
Professor Joël Aïvo, constitutional law specialist and member of the opposition, has been detained since April 15, 2021 and sentenced to ten years for “undermining state security”.
Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè, a journalist detained in Abidjan Paroled in July 2025 Kidnapped in Abidjan and then sent to Benin, after which he was charged with incitement to rebellion.
Steve Amoussou, cyber activist, was arrested in August 2024 under questionable circumstances.
Candide Azannaï, a former opposition minister, was arrested and charged on December 12, 2025 in connection with the investigation into the attempted coup.
In the context of a society where you can be murdered or imprisoned for your political, intellectual or media contributions and expressions, music, light and festivals are symbolic acts that demand attention for themselves at the expense of real substantive tensions. They can be neutralized and debates about social justice disappear from the spotlight…
Also read: The human rights crisis in East Africa will worsen in 2024
When Benin’s cultural celebration becomes ideological anesthetic
Spectacle is not by definition an enemy of democracy. Culture is necessary for any free society. But when it is used instead to cover hunger, divert outrage, and dilute vital political discussion, it is not a celebration but an instrument of ideological anesthetic. On this point, entertainment functions not so differently from Marx’s view of religion: as a sop, rather than as an engine; distracting, less than transmuting.
A society that lives in the darkness of light effects, and not of truth and justice, may end up offering its people at the altar of images rather than to their real needs.
For citizens, the question is not whether festivals should exist, but whether there is still room in public life for telling the truth, being accountable and lawfully differing from opinions. When culture becomes a substitute for politics, the most vulnerable pay twice: first through hunger, then through silence.
By Omar Arouna
Ambassador Omar Arouna is President of Global Public Affairs and Engagement at Gunster Strategies Worldwide, where he applies more than 25 years of experience in foreign policy, economic development and diplomacy to deliver strategic public affairs solutions. In this role, he leads efforts to help clients across industries navigate complex political landscapes, shape policy and develop market expansion strategies.
A leading diplomat, Ambassador Arouna served as Ambassador of the Republic of Benin to the United States and Mexico, and as the country’s representative to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization of American States. His tenure in these positions provided him with deep expertise in U.S. government processes and international economic diplomacy.
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