Goodbye to the Avenue du Général de Gaulle and the Place de la Francophonie: the military regime in power in Niger on Tuesday, October 15, changed the name of several historical places in the capital, Niamey, which until now had names that evoke France , the former colonial power on which they turned their backs. At full speed, with military music in the background, several junta leaders toured the streets of the city to inaugurate the new names.
“Most of our avenues, boulevards, streets (…) They bear names that simply remember the suffering and intimidation suffered by our people during the terrible experience of colonization.denounced Major Colonel Abdramane Amadou, Minister of Youth and spokesman for the regime.
“This avenue that was named after General Charles de Gaulle is now called Djibo Bakary Avenue.”he said, during a ceremony. Nigerien political figure, Djibo Bakary (1922-1998) was a supporter of the independence obtained in 1960.
A few hundred meters further on, the monument dedicated to the dead of the two world wars becomes Bubandey Batama (“To our dead”, in the Djerma language) and now offers “tribute to all the civil and military victims of colonization to this day”. The Nigerien regime thus takes a new step in the rupture with France that began since the coup d’état that brought it to power on July 26, 2023.
“Honor our ancestors”
The French soldiers engaged in the anti-jihadist fight were expelled, the ambassador was expelled and the Franco-Nigerian cultural center ceased to function as a binational establishment and was renamed Moustapha Alassane, in honor of a Nigerien filmmaker. The regime, which makes its sovereignty a pillar of its policy, frequently accuses Paris of wanting to destabilize it.
On Tuesday, in Niamey, a monument was even completely redone: the portrait of the French commander and explorer Perfect-Louis Monteil, engraved for decades on a stone monument, was replaced by a plaque with the effigy of Thomas Sankara. The former president of neighboring Burkina Faso, assassinated in a coup in 1987, is a figure of Pan-Africanism whose Colonel Amadou praised on Tuesday “liberation struggle” AND “emancipation of the people” WHO “he still inspires people”.
Finally, the Place de la Francophonie was renamed the Square of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a confederation created in 2023 with Mali and Burkina Faso, two neighbors also led by the military who came to power through coups d’état and who They turned their backs on them. France.
The three countries were suspended by the French-speaking authorities after the coups d’état. From now on, “We will honor our ancestors”assured General Assoumane Abdou Harouna, governor of Niamey and figure of the regime.
“Names of the heroes of our country”
Oumarou Adourahamane, president of the Nigerian section of the Pan-Africanist NGO Emergency, welcomed this initiative on Tuesday: “It makes no sense that our streets continue to bear names of former residents (…) and that is why it is justice that it is being done by changing the name of these streets, naming them after the heroes of our country. »
This NGO is directed internationally by the Beninese activist Kemi Seba, known for his virulent stances towards France. The latter, recently stripped of his French nationality and who holds a Nigerien diplomatic passport as special advisor to the head of the regime, Abdourahamane Tiani, was arrested on Monday in Paris. The reason for his arrest has not yet been revealed.
In June 2023, shortly before the coup d’état that overthrew the elected president Mohamed Bazoum, Niger adopted a new national anthem titled For the honor of the countrywith special reference to anti-colonial struggles. he replaced The Nigerien, whose lyrics were written by the French composer Maurice Albert Thiriet in 1961, a year after the country’s independence.
