By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The military government in Niger has renamed streets and national emoluments bearing French names, replacing them with names of locals considered as heroes, a move aimed at further severing the already frosty ties with the former colonial power.
Charles de Gaulle Avenue located in the capital, Niamey, is now bearing Avenue Djibo Bakary in honour of the Nigerien politician who played a key role in the West African country’s struggle for independence.
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.
“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.
Heritage Times HT recalls that Niger’s relationship with France and other Western allies deteriorated after President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in a coup last year.
Niger drew closer to Russia for military and financial aid, accusing Paris of fueling insecurity in the West African nation, which battles jihadist attacks.
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His image has now been replaced by a plaque with a portrait of Burkina Faso’s iconic revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, a charismatic pan-Africanist who was assassinated in 1987.
