By Paul Njie, NIAMEY Niger
Niger’s military leaders have
renamed streets and monuments bearing French names, in the latest move to cut
links with the country’s former colonial power.Djibo Bakary, Niamey's first mayor, was a key figure in the fight for independence which happened in 1960 when Charles de Gaulle was France's president
Avenue Charles de Gaulle in
the capital, Niamey, is now Avenue Djibo Bakary in honour of the Nigerien
politician who played a key role in the West African country’s struggle for
independence.
"Most of our avenues,
boulevards and streets... bear names that are simply reminders of the suffering
and bullying our people endured during the ordeal of colonisation," said
junta spokesman Maj Col Abdramane Amadou.
Niger's relationship with
France and other Western allies deteriorated after President Mohamed Bazoum was
ousted in a coup last year.
Like its military-led
neighbours, Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has courted Russia for military
support as a jihadist insurgency threatens the region - and the three countries
have clubbed together to form what they call the Alliance of Sahel States.
Under Bazoum, France had more
than 1,500 troops stationed in Niger to help fight jihadist groups linked to
both al-Qaeda and Islamic State. They all withdrew by the end of last year.
A ceremony was held in Niamey
on Tuesday to mark the various name changes, including the avenue once named
after a French general, as well as a war memorial that was built to remember
those who died in World War One and World War Two.
It now pays "homage to
all civilian and military victims of colonisation to the present day".The image of charismatic pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist Thomas Sankara replaces that of a French explorer
Charles de Gaulle was a
soldier and politician who formed a French government in exile during World War
Two when the Nazi German forces overran France. He became leader of the Free
French Forces.
Many Africans in French
colonies volunteered to fight for the Free French Forces, though many were also
drafted into service.
About 400,000 came from
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and more than 70,000 from Senegal and other
sub-Saharan colonies. They took part in the Allies' landings in the south of
France in August 1944, which were crucial to ousting the Nazis from the area.
In fact as part of a
reappraisal of its colonial past, France
began to rename some of its streets and squares after African World War Two
heroes four years ago.
Another place to have been
given a facelift in Niamey is a stone monument that had an engraving of French
colonial officer and explorer Parfait-Louis Monteil. He had travelled from
Senegal in 1890 across West Africa, writing a book about his two-year journey.
His image has now been
replaced by a plaque with a portrait of Burkina Faso's iconic revolutionary
leader Thomas Sankara, a charismatic pan-Africanist who was assassinated in
1987.
During his time in power, he
adopted an anti-imperialist foreign policy that challenged the dominance of
France, which retained huge influence in many of its former colonies in Africa.
Another significant name
change is Niamey's Place de La Francophonie, named after the group of
French-speaking states.
Instead it will be known as
Place de l'Alliance des Etats du Sahel, after the country's new confederation
with Burkina Faso and Mali.
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