The former French colony of Niger has purged the country’s capital of street names that evoke its colonial master, amidst the continuing decline of the Françafrique system which had previously linked France to many of its former colonies.
The country’s ruling junta, led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, which displaced the country’s previous government last year, has taken numerous steps to separate the country from the former colonial power. It has expelled Paris’ troops from the region and reduced diplomatic ties.
Now, even French names are being done away with. Military leaders announced on October 15 that they were renaming a number of major roadways in the capital Niamey as part of decolonisation.
“Most of our avenues, boulevards, streets… bear names that simply recall the suffering and harassment endured by our people during the ordeal of colonisation,” said junta spokesman Colonel-Major Abdramane Amadou, who now also serves as Minister for Youth.
“This avenue that bore the name of General Charles de Gaulle is now called ‘Avenue Djibo Bakary’,” he continued. Bakary was a key figure in the country’s struggle for independence.
Monuments in the capital were also not safe, with the senior military official announcing the city’s main monument to those who died during the First and Second World Wars was being renamed to “Bubandey Batama” — meaning “to our dead” in Djerma. This move was to properly pay “homage to all the civilian and military victims from colonisation to the present day”.
Another monument that had portrayed French explorer and military leader Parfait-Louis Monteil was meanwhile redone to portray pan-African revolutionary Thomas Sankara.
A former Franco-Nigerien cultural centre — which has since become a solely Nigerien cultural establishment — was meanwhile named after local filmmaker Moustapha Alassane.
The European Union has ended its official military co-operation with Niger following a successful coup in the North African country last year. https://t.co/8yDW216kQS
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 29, 2024
