Mthobeli Jiwulane

French Ambassador to Niger, Sylvain Itté, is believed to have left the country he flatly refused to leave amidst a huge noise from Nigeriens who have been camping outside that embassy in Niamey.

While the envoy was seen being escorted by the army out of the embassy this week and getting into a waiting vehicle that whisked him away with his small traveller’s bag, some reports claimed the man who was being booed by the crowds was in fact not the ambassador. But as shown in the footage this week, the man’s body and face resembled those of Itté.

But French President Emmanuel Macron insisted Itté was held hostage and deprived of food by the Niger army and that the envoy was eating from the army ration. Some observers believe this was a way by Macron to create a story to use as an excuse to attack Niger, possibly assisted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. They said right now Macron had no reason to act against Niger and he couldn’t parry the embarrassing claims that France was in the country merely to pursue neo-colonialism including to exploit its mineral resources.

They said he France would invade Niger on the pretext of attempting to rescue the ambassador who was allegedly held hostage while in fact it would have been an invasion to remove the junta and reinstate Bazoum back into power.

But the question of whether France would leave the country voluntarily or without a fight is still unanswered. French troops were still in the country despite thousands of people camping inside and outside the French military base in the country demanding that the foreign soldiers should leave the country. But the French ha several military basis in Niger.

Macron’s claim that the Ambassador was still holed up in the embassy as a hostage, threw a spanner in the works in an already volatile situation. This week, an embassy officials who was arrested by Nigerian officials was released from custody without giving a reason for his incarceration.

This was confirmed by French authorities who said Stephane Jullien, counselor for French citizens abroad, was released Wednesday after five days in custody. It’s not clear why Jullien was arrested as the French officials also gave not reasons.

France resisted to move out of Niger in the hope that the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) would carry out its threat of military intervention in Niger.

The ECOWAS dilemma was the fact that the coup had a popular support and that many African states were opposed to any form of military action against the coup leaders, fearing it could escalate into a full scale war.

A stand-off between France and the country’s military ensued after the ambassador refused to go on the basis that he did not recognise the junta which ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. France demanded that Bazoum should be restored into power.

However, the army were smart not to provoke France by forcing the Ambassador out, but they did not stop the citizens from expressing their anger but in a peaceful way against the French including harassing Itté with noise of various forms including shouting and beating of drums and metallic material outside the embassy aiming to irritate him.

The coup by the Nigerien army that overthrew Bazoum had the support of the people, who want nothing to do with France. The series of coups that occurred in the last few months in Niger and Gabon and others that occurred before them in the region, were hailed as the “Second African Revolution” as its objective was to end western neo-colonialism and imperialism.

The anti-French new generation of young leaders in west Africa, be they civilian or members of the military, have been described by well known African anti-colonialism campaigner, Dr Arikana Chihombori as a “revelation” in the biblical terms because, as she said, what been happening in the region was wrong. She accused France of pillaging the African mineral resources with impunity.

Chihombori, former African Union Ambassador to the United States, told a television station that black people in Africa were “waking up and realising what had been happening was wrong” and that nothing was going to stop them.

She abhorred some African leaders who cooperated with France to let it “steal” the mineral resources from the continent. She claimed the majority of African heads of states particularly in the former French colonies were puppets installed by Paris to continue the French legacy. They were told by France that they were not in control of their countries’ military, natural resources and finances, which remained under France’s control even after independence. According to Chihombori the leaders were told that as long as they did not touch those, they were free to rule as they liked in their countries.

The ongoing revolution in the region was “led by people who were informed” while in the past people were “uninformed and misled” about what was happening and now they had woken up. “What you are seeing is an African electorate that is now awoken, that is inform, they understand the real issues. In the past Africans had been misinformed, misled and given false information and being shown a shiny object,” Chihombori said.

The Zimbabwean-born Chihombori had been campaigning world-wide for action to be taken against France to stop its continued neo-colonialisation of Africa. France was the only colonial power still wielding power and influence at its former colonies.

Although the African Union is opposed to any coup in Africa, suspended Niger other junta-led countries from the AU and had called for the Nigerien junta to restore the civilian rule, it showed no interest in the ECOWAS military intervention. But the spectre of a war still lingered as France could not just abandon the colonial wealth it had been enjoying since its colonial rule in Niger.

The situation could go either way, but one thing for sure, Africans are weary of wars.