Introduction
According to reports, “An Anti-imperialist People’s Movement” has unfolded spontaneously across francophone West Africa in support of Niger’s Conseil National pour la sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP) (National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland) which came to power on July 26, 2023 in a military Coup d’Etat against the elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum.
Demonstrations in Niger by supporters of the CNSP government have largely targeted France calling for the withdrawal of French troops:
“Protesters attempted to storm the French embassy to express their outrage at the decades of colonial and neo-colonial domination their country has suffered.” (Liberation News)
Pressured by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (led by the president of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu) as well as by the African Union and the UN, Niger’s military junta has “refused to reinstall the ousted president” (August 8, 2023).
“Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, … who is now the chair of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had threatened just days after the ascendancy to power of the CNSP to lead a military intervention to reimpose Bazoum. (Black Agenda Report, emphasis added)
In recent developments, thousands of young people have gathered in Niamey’s stadium to sign up as volunteers in defense of their country.
ECOWAS threats have contributed to “building greater animosity against France and the U.S.”
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