'It Was Successive Nigerien Governments That Signed Agreements With The French' – Amb Usman Sarki

The Nigeria Former Deputy Permanent Rep to the UN, Ambassador Usman Sarki has alleged that it was successive Nigerien governments that signed agreements with the French for the exploitation of Niger resources. He said in an interview with Arise Tv news that the Niger military leaders are trying to entrench themselves in power while using the excuse of being against the France’s foreign policy. According to him, the Niger Coup leaders are trying to gain the support of Nigeriens by operating as against the status quo.

He said, ”It became a convenient issue that the regime in Niger could latch on to in order to gain legitimacy, popularity and entrench itself. The idea that the French were the main cause of the issue came as an afterthought when the coup took place. 

The French have been there since independence, they didn’t drive them away. It was successive Nigerien governments that signed agreements with the French for the exploitation of their resources. So today it became like a revolutionary issue to be anti-french. So that came as an anti-climax in terms of getting a reason to really entrench themselves in power. 

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