General Abdourahamane Tchiani
This video frame grab image obtained by AFP from ORTN – Télé Sahel on July 28, 2023 shows General Abdourahamane Tchiani, Niger’s new strongman, speaking on national television and reads a statement as “President of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland”, after the ouster of President-elect Mohamed Bazoum. (Photo by ORTN – Télé Sahel / AFP)
Junta-run Niger, which has severed links with former colonial ruler France, on Monday said it was quitting a global group of French-speaking nations — an organisation resembling the Commonwealth.
“The Nigerien government has independently decided to withdraw Niger from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie,” the foreign ministry said.
Niger was suspended from the group after a military coup toppled elected president Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023.
The 88-state OIC had demanded a speedy return to constitutional order and Bazoum’s release. The toppled president and his wife are still being held by the West African country’s new rulers.
Niger’s military rulers have turned their backs on Paris, instead forging ties with fellow juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali — as well as Russia.
Shortly before the coup, Niger adopted a new national anthem titled “For the honour of the fatherland”, which references the anti-colonial struggle.
It replaced “La Nigerienne”, whose lyrics were written by French composer Maurice Albert Thiriet in 1961, a year after the country gained its independence.
AFP