Thousands of supporters of the coup marched through the streets of the capital Niamey on 30 July, waving Russian flags, chanting the name of (the bad…) Russian president “Poutine” and denouncing (the good…) colonial France and storming its embassy.
According to our good western media, (the bad…) Russian mercenary group Wagner is operating in neighbouring Mali, and (the bad…) Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to expand his influence in the region.
France and (the double-plus good…) European Union have suspended security cooperation and financial aid to Niger in response to the coup.
The (good…) African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the democratically elected Mohamed Bazoum.
The (good…) West African regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened to use military force if Bazoum isn’t reinstated in a week. Nigeria is the dominant country in Ecowas, whose other member states are Benin; Burkina Faso; Cape Verde; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Ivory Coast; Liberia; Mali; Niger; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Togo: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-afri ... 6_124.html
Why would the predominantly “black” Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, elect the arab Mohamed Bazoum for president?
It is obvious that Bazoum is blatantly supported by the western “democracies” (maybe some Africans would call these colonial powers?).
Paul Melly from Chatham House (a.k.a. RIIA) has praised Bazoum for his “brave” intention to help the depopulation agenda advance in Niger:
.Bazoum is stressing the case for more education for girls. But he's tying that to the question of family size in a way that is quite brave politically.
Maybe surprising that Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim of the George Soros funded International Crisis Group (and Fulbright scholar) made critical remarks about Bazoum as interior minister, "It is clear that the government has abused power in terms of reducing people's freedoms and liberties and arresting activists just for demonstrating", adding that there are military executions of civilians and people who disappear…
In November 2022, Niger’s Constitutional Court declared Bazoum’s main opponent, Hama Amadou, "ineligible" to run in the presidential election: https://www.dw.com/en/niger-election-ju ... a-56028361
(https://archive.is/8lcuj)
Obviously Africans don’t have much confidence anymore in a so-called “democracy” that has effectively kept them enslaved by colonial forces.
In the 33 years since 1990, there have been 43 coups and 41 failed attempts in Africa.
ECOWAS has imposed sanctions on Niger, including a no-fly zone: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023 ... -new-order
It’s a bit strange that there’s hardly information on what the Abdourahmane Tchiani led junta actually blame Mohamed Bazoum for.
The best I found is that Tchiani accuses Bazoum for “several problems in Niger, including insecurity, economic woes and corruption”. There has to be more!
The leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin (Putin’s friend or foe?), has reportedly praised the coup.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66337767What happened in Niger is nothing other than the struggle of the people of Niger with their colonisers.
After “independence” from their colonial oppressors, many former African colonies kept their connections to the colonial powers through their currencies.
The CFA franc was/is (now called “eco” connected to the Euro,) used by 14 Mid-West African countries, including Niger, and required for the member countries to deposit half of their foreign exchange reserves with the French Treasury.
Besides Niger, these countries with the eco coin are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo.
French representatives also took seats on the boards of central banks of West African States.
After reforms no more French are on the boards of these African central banks, and they don’t deposit 50% of foreign exchange reserves into the French Treasury anymore.
In the 1980s and ’90s, the “poor” Global South transferred the equivalent of 56 Marshall Plans to the “rich” North in the form of “debt service”.
After abolition of slavery, huge “reparations” were paid to French former slave owners (like in Britain). These funds were then used to establish colonial banks in Africa, to keep the “slaves” under control: https://jacobin.com/2021/03/africa-colo ... c-currency
The pro-Russian New Eastern Outlook (Journal-neo.org) is blocked in the EU (I don’t know why I get a message from the KPN corporation). I hoped for some interesting information on Niger…