Niger: Today Is No Different From Yesterday
A historical survey of Niger reveals today is not different from yesterday. On April 9, 1999, the country’s military leader, Lt. Col. Ibrahim Bare Mainassara was assassinated by a presidential guard. He was boarding a plane in Niamey on his way to the country’s north when the assassin struck.
Mainassara was replaced by the Head of the Presidential Guards, Col. Daouda Malam Wanke. Mainassara had also seized power and ruled Niger for three years before his untimely death.
Parliamentary elections in January 1995 resulted in cohabitation between President Mahamane Ousmane and a parliament controlled by his opponents, led by Prime Minister Hama Amadou. The rivalry between Ousmane and Amadou effectively paralyzed the government, and Mainassara seized power on January 27, 1996, pointing to the difficult political situation in the country.
President Mamadou Tandja came to power sometime later in 1999 in the elections that followed the assassination of Col. Mainassara. Interim President, Col. Daouda Malam Wanke steered affairs for eight months before handing power to the elected civilian Mamadou Tandja.
Tandja chose the slippery political terrain of Niger to indulge in the kind of gymnastics that always infuriated the military. Upon expiration of his term of office, Tandja wanted to extend his rule but the military stepped in on February 18, 2010, and ousted him.
Promoting himself to a general later, the coup leader Salou Djibo contested in the 2011 presidential election and lost to Mahamadou Issoufou whose ten-year rule is one of the longest in Niger’s history.
The foregoing would suggest that the ousting of President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023, is only consistent with the political rhythm in Niger. The presidential guard syndrome, the tendency for the military to roll tanks in Niamey in a show of force, and eventually, its frequent alternation with civilian rule, are items inviting questions to the heart of the country’s political stability or volatility.