For now, France will keep its ambassador in Niger and its troops stationed there, some 1,500 soldiers, despite threats from military coup leaders who seized power in a coup a month ago. French President Emmanuel Macron defended the legitimacy of ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum in Paris on Monday and refused to recognize the military junta that has taken power. Meanwhile, tensions are rising in Niamey, Niger’s capital, where on Sunday thousands of demonstrators converged near Base 101, where French troops are based, to demand their withdrawal from the country. At the same time, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is calling for power to be returned to the country’s democratic authorities, is ensuring that it continues to explore diplomatic avenues to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.
In a speech to French ambassadors around the world, Macron supported ousted President Bazoum and challenged the putschists: “We do not recognize them.” gave the putschists 48 hours to leave the country on Friday. On Monday morning, Itte and his staff followed the President’s speech in Paris from the embassy in the Nigerian capital. At this point, the building still had electricity and water services, although persistent rumors circulated that the military junta had decided to shut down these basic services.
The French President believes that Bazoum is the legitimate President of Niger and that the bilateral agreements with France remain in force despite the denunciations of the coup leaders. This includes the French military base with a presence of 1,500 soldiers. According to Paris, recognizing the military junta would be an incentive for further coups and would endanger France’s allies.
The United States, which also has a military presence in Niger, has been more cautious in condemning and threatening the military junta. The Joe Biden administration avoids using the word “coup” to describe the July 26 military takeover and kidnapping of the President. And it is more cautious than France about possible military intervention in Niger by countries in the region.
In defense of his Africa policy
In his speech in Paris, Macron defended France’s Africa policy, which has been accused by many on the continent of neo-colonial meddling. He claimed that without the military intervention of 2013, under the presidency of the socialist François Hollande, and at the request of the Malian government, countries like Mali itself, Burkina Faso or Niger would have succumbed to the jihadist advance and would no longer exist on their current borders.
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The French president sued what he described as a “baroque alliance of so-called pan-Africanists and neo-imperialists”. The term “neo-imperialists” refers to Russia’s support for coup regimes in countries that until recently were close to France, such as Mali and Burkina Faso.
“Neither paternalism nor weakness,” Macron described France’s position. It is a refutation of accusations of neocolonialism and at the same time a way of dismissing the idea of an outright defeat on a continent where Paris continues to have significant military and economic interests alongside the human ties created by immigration to France. Native to the former colonies.
It is the first time since July 26 that Macron has spoken at such length about what he called “the coup epidemic” in the Sahel and the crisis that is seriously undermining French influence in Africa, its old backyard. The speech from the Élysée Palace, devoted to the world situation and France’s global interests, was not just about Africa.
But one of the central ideas had a lot to do with the Nigerian crisis: what the president sees as a risk of “weakening” the West and Europe globally in the face of “some sort of surge in politics of resentment.” According to Macron, this resentment can take the form of “imaginary anti-colonialism” or “anti-Westernism”.
Macron chided France for its stubborn support for the ousted Nigerian president and replied: “What would we do if there were a coup in Bulgaria or Romania?” Would they have told us not to look too far? That there is no such thing, that it’s not our house? It is not allowed. There is a man democratically elected and brave for not leaving office and we are told that leaving him would be the right policy?
Tension in Niamey
Meanwhile, tensions continue to rise in Niamey after the French ambassador’s 48-hour deadline to leave the country expired. This Sunday, thousands of people demonstrated in front of military base 101, where around 800 Americans and around 1,500 French soldiers are stationed, to demand the withdrawal of French troops from the country. Dozens of citizens also protested outside the French diplomatic mission over the weekend, where Nigeria’s external police were beefing up security.
On Saturday, the military junta organized a rally at Seyni Kountché Stadium in Niamey to celebrate the first month since taking power. In it, members of the self-proclaimed National Council for the Protection of the Homeland (CNSP) threatened to forcibly expel Ambassador Sylvain Itte if he decided to continue in the country.
On the other hand, the organization that unites the countries of West Africa continues to have doubts about launching military intervention and tries to exhaust diplomatic channels. This was said this weekend by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, who said that the regional body was “working on an amicable solution to restore constitutional order”. He also addressed Niger’s citizens, assuring them that the regional body “is very interested in their economic prosperity and social well-being” and that “its aspirations can only be fulfilled through democratic means and participatory governance”.
The President of Nigeria and ECOWAS itself, Bola Tinubu, met with US Deputy Secretary of State Molly Phee on Saturday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, to whom he informed his intention to resolve this crisis through peaceful means, despite military intervention pending the table. “We are engrossed in trying to resolve the problem in Niger peacefully using our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, although they are willing to accept all options to exhaust all other corrective mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms or for the region, but defending democracy is sacrosanct. “The consensus of ECOWAS is that we will not allow anyone to waste time in a dishonest way,” Tinubu said after the meeting.
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