On Monday afternoon, a few dozen individuals showed up at Niamey’s airport to welcome Kemi Seba, a Franco-Beninese campaigner well-known for his critique of France’s colonial heritage in west Africa.
Seba, the leader of the Urgence Panafricaniste movement, is anticipated to deliver a speech at protests in support of the military government of Niger.
It is crucial that the people of Niger understand that, despite giving the impression that it wants to withdraw, France is really trying to buy time. The people of Niger demanded that the French soldiers depart as soon as possible, but in typical colonial arrogance, Macron claims that they will do so by the end of the year, as if it were up to him to decide when the coloniser should pack up and leave.
Seba’s visit to Niger comes just after Paris, which had earlier promised to keep its ambassador in the Sahel nation, said it will withdraw its military and envoy by the end of the year.
Additionally, the activist had harsh words for the regional group ECOWAS, which has vowed to intervene militarily in Niger.
“The leaders of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) want to continue more than ever to threaten Niger, want to attack Niger, to commit a crime against humanity by imposing inhuman sanctions against the population of Niger. We must mobilize since the war is continuing, it is an economic war, it is a war of suffocation and we must all be present to resist, that is why we came to be by your side, to remind you that Niger is not alone,” he said.
Around 1,500 French soldiers are present in Niger. Experts claim that their removal is a sign of the nation’s increasing isolation in West Africa.
