NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Thousands from junta-led countries in Africa’s Sahel region gathered in the Nigerian capital Niamey this week, with music and cultural displays, to condemn what they called the West’s imperialist agenda and to call for support for their army. regimes.
Delegates from Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali took part in the three-day conference that ended on Thursday. The three countries’ junta leaders are seeking more popular support after ousting democratically elected governments and severing ties with long-standing Western partners such as France, their former colonial ruler, with Russia as their new preferred partner.
All three countries are nearing the end of their year-long withdrawal process from the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS, which they accuse of being influenced by France in sanctioning coups and of failing to crack down on extremist to tackle violence in their country. shared boundaries.
Delegates to the conference – including pro-junta youth, women and civil society groups, as well as allies from across West Africa and beyond – discussed their countries’ sovereignty and the economic and security partnerships emerging under the bloc three junta-led countries known as the Alliance of Sahel States, or AES.
The main highlights included the colors and cultures of the three countries, depicted in the clothes and just about everything else, as well as musical performances and songs, starting with a pro-junta rendition by Nigerien artist Idi Sarki, who reflected on the coup from July 2023 in the United States. country.
“Nigeriens, wake up, we don’t want the French army on our land anymore,” Sarki sang, referring to French troops who were asked to leave in the wake of the military takeover in Niger and other countries in the region.
“After colonization it is recolonization… We will have to intervene somehow if we want our energy and economic sovereignty – we need raw materials from sub-Saharan Africa,” he sang as the ecstatic crowd swayed in unison and waved flags. three countries hit by coups.
A women’s music group also sang a song dedicated to African youth.
“After so many years of suffering, today the youth are rising in an awakening of conscience for a struggle for hope and freedom,” said the leading artist, wearing a white-gray traditional dress and scarf along with others.
Since the coups, the militaries in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have pledged to help address shortcomings they say inspired them to take power, such as the deadly violence and economic hardship their citizens face.
But the problems have persisted and in some cases have even worsened. And in Mali, where the junta seized power in 2020, the military-appointed civilian prime minister was dismissed on Wednesday after criticizing delays in elections that would usher in a new government.
Some at the conference, however, were optimistic that the militaries would deliver long-sought democratic dividends.
“How can we live under a so-called democracy if there are no schools?” asked Ali Moussa, from the Central African country of Gabon, where a military junta is also in power. “We think times have changed, it is no longer the time to talk about democracy,” he said.
The campaign for sovereignty and anti-imperialism should also extend to other African countries, said Inem Richardson, who came from Burkina Faso, where she runs a pan-African library called the Thomas Sankara Center, named after a Marxist military officer who took power in a 1983 coup.
“All of Africa must unite… the masses must be 100% involved,” Richardson said.
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Associated Press journalist Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.
