Niger’s military leaders have renamed streets and monuments after French names in the latest move to cut ties with the country’s former colonial power.
Avenue Charles de Gaulle in the capital Niamey is now called Avenue Djibo Bakary, in honor 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 simply recall the suffering and harassment that our people had to endure during the ordeal of colonization,” said junta spokesman Major-Colonel 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 neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has been courting Russia for military support as a jihadist insurgency threatens the region – and the three countries have joined together to form what they call the Alliance of Sahel States.
Under Bazoum, France had stationed more than 1,500 troops in Niger to help fight jihadist groups linked to both al-Qaeda and Islamic State. They all withdrew at the end of last year.
A ceremony was held in Niamey on Tuesday to mark the several name changes, including the avenue once named after a French general, as well as a war memorial built to commemorate those who died in the First and Second World Wars.
It is now a tribute to all civilian and military victims of colonization to this day.
Charles de Gaulle was a soldier and politician who formed a French government in exile during World War II when Nazi German forces overran France. He became leader of the Free French Forces.
Many Africans in the French colonies volunteered to fight for the Free French Forces, although many were also drafted.
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 Allied landings in southern France in August 1944, which were crucial in driving the Nazis out of the area.
In fact, as part of a reappraisal of the colonial past, France began renaming some of its streets and squares after African heroes of World War II four years ago.
Another spot in Niamey that has received a facelift is a stone monument with a carving of French colonial officer and explorer Parfait-Louis Monteil. He had traveled from Senegal through West Africa in 1890 and wrote a book about his two-year journey.
His likeness has now been replaced by a plaque with a portrait of Burkina Faso’s iconic revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, a charismatic Pan-Africanist who was assassinated in 1987.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 pursued an anti-imperialist foreign policy that challenged the dominance of France, which retained enormous influence in many of its former colonies in Africa.
Another important 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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