International politics in the West African sub-region entered a dynamic phase when a fresh wave of coups-d’état started to take place in the French-speaking part. Especially noteworthy among these were the coup in Mali on 24 May, 2021 led by Colonel Assimi Goita, the one in Burkina Faso on 30 September, 2022 led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, and that in Niger Republic on 26 July, 2023 led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani.
The coups constituted a violation of the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) December 2001 “Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance Supplementary to the Protocol Relating to the Mechanism For Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security”. Specifically, the protocol in Article 1(b) and (c) states: “(b) Every accession to power must be made through free, fair and transparent elections. (c) Zero tolerance for power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means.”
The coups were also a challenge to Nigeria because the country’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu became the Chair of ECOWAS on 9 July, 2023. The coup in Niger Republic was particularly perceived as an afront to Nigeria, because it took place after Nigeria had become Chair of ECOWAS and because Niger Republic was bordering Northern Nigeria. Hawks within and outside the Nigerian government therefore started to contemplate an invasion of Niger Republic to remove the anti-France coup leaders and re-install the deposed pro-France civilian government of President Mohamed Bazoum.
In fact, Aljazeera’s Shola Lawal, in an article titled “West Africa’s ‘coup belt’: Did Mali’s 2020 army takeover change the region?”, reported on 27 August, 2024: “Tinubu convened an extraordinary meeting of West African leaders immediately after the Niger coup. ECOWAS suspended Niger, shut its borders, cut electricity and demanded that Bazoum be reinstated. All 15 countries except Cape Verde committed troops for a possible ‘military intervention.’”
The fear that such an invasion could take place led to unimaginable backlash. The geographical contiguity and ethnic and religious affinity between Northern Nigeria and Southern Niger Republic generated stout opposition to any possible invasion. Politicians and other sections of the elite from Northern Nigeria claimed President Tinubu was trying to repay the electoral support they gave him in the 2023 presidential elections with an attack on their kith and kin across the Nigerien border. They also complained that any hostile actions against Niger Republic and the closure of the border between the two countries would jeopardise the economy of Northern Nigeria due to the extensive cross-border trade between both countries.
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It was also argued that though Niger Republic looked like an enemy that could be easily subdued, the ramifications of any warlike situation between both countries could have long-lasting negative implications for the internal security of Nigeria. This implies that a smaller or militarily weaker country could thump its nose at a bigger or more militarily powerful one, at least in the short term, if the consequences of the exercise of that power could result in a Pyrrhic victory.
In fact, the attention of the government was drawn to the near-conflict situation between Nigeria and the United Kingdom arising from the 4 July,1984 abduction, drugging, crating and attempt to fly former Nigerian Minister in the Alhaji Shehu Shagari administration, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, to Nigeria, on a specially-provided Nigerian Airways plane, from Stansted Airport. He had been accused of embezzling humongous sums of money, and the General Muhammadu Buhari military government was reported to have sought to bring him back to Nigeria alive to answer for the charges.
When the plan fell through, the Nigeria Airways plane was detained at Stansted airport. In retaliation, the Nigerian government forced a British Caledonian flight which had already taken off with over two hundred passengers on board back to Lagos. With this development and probably considering the relative potential losses, the British authorities released the Nigeria Airways plane and the British Caledonian aircraft was then allowed to resume its journey.
Possibly noting the potential costs of a military offensive, especially in view of the threat by Burkina Faso and Mali to come to the defence of Niger Republic if it was attacked, the Nigeria-led ECOWAS coalition was dissuaded from trying to remove the Nigerien military administration by force. But this did not reassure General Abdourahamane Tchiani, and every visit of President Tinubu to France has been a cause of trepidation for the General.
So, when President Tinubu embarked on a three-day visit to France from 27 November, 2024, Tchiani addressed a press conference on 25 December, 2024 in which he was reported to have said that, during the visit, the Nigerian President and the French President Emmanuel Macron reached an agreement to collaborate to destabilise Niger Republic. This was promptly denied by the Nigerian authorities.
Meanwhile, Niger Republic’s military government has continued to consolidate its efforts to break the colonial yoke binding it to France. One of the latest profound efforts at decolonisation by the military government was to adopt Hausa as the national or official language of Niger Republic in place of French. On 9 April, 2025, The Cable newspaper reported the story as follows: “The military government in Niger Republic says the country is adopting Hausa as the national language, replacing French. The change was announced in a new charter released on March 31, which said, ‘the national language is Hausa’ and ‘the working languages are English and French’.”
The Cable further reported: “This move follows a national conference held in February, which strengthened the ruling junta led by Abdourahamane Tchiani, to remain in power for the next five years. The conference also led to the recognition of nine other local languages as ‘the spoken languages of Niger’, including Zarma-Songhay, Fula, Kanuri, Gourmanche, and Arabic. Hausa is the most widely spoken language in Niger, with around 26 million people reportedly using it, particularly in the central-southern regions of Zinder and Maradi, and in Tahoua in the west. However, only about 13 percent of the population, just over three million people, speak French.”
It is widely acknowledged that language is an instrument of personal and group or national identity and a store and reflector of the cultural values of a people. It is, in other words, adopting Oprah Winfrey’s idiom, a socio-cultural GPS (Geographical Positioning System) or even, in a sense, an effective tool for articulating what Reverend Martin King Jr called ‘life’s blueprint’. It is for this reason that the issue of language death – the going out of existence of the speakers of a language – has been of major concern to multilateral organisations like the United Nations. Language death constitutes the loss of critical cultural knowledge and could result in social disorientation.
Within neo-colonial contexts, the decision of Niger Republic to drop French for Hausa as a national or main official language signals national pride and the assertion of sovereignty, given the asphyxiating colonial hold of France on its former colonies, especially in West Africa. As far as language policy is concerned, this new shift is quite significant, because there has been the tendency for colonialists to project their languages as status symbols and instruments for access to power and privilege and portray the indigenous languages of the colonised states as indices of primitivity. This colonial mentality has been detrimental to the interests of the majority of the citizens of these colonised countries and has ultimately compromised national development.
With respect to Niger Republic’s apprehension about and stategising against military action against it by ECOWAS, the country’s new language policy could be regarded as astute geo-politics. In other words, if Northern Nigeria could rise in condemnation of any move to attack Niger Republic in 2023 before it adopted Hausa as a national or official language, more robust opposition to any such military moves is to be expected now that the country has more profoundly manifested its cultural and linguistic affinity with Northern Nigeria. A situation is therefore being created which would strongly cause the declaration that “injury to one is injury to all.” Disregarding this principle would have serious implications for Nigeria’s national unity and internal security.
Niger Republic’s new language policy also has the potential to rectify the alienation that often attends the use of colonialists’ languages as national or official languages. As has been noted above, with French as national or official language in Niger Republic and with only 13 percent of the population speaking the language, 85 percent of the population have been excluded from the circle of opportunity, privilege and power which competence in the colonialist language creates.
On the other hand, if well-managed, the new status of Hausa, which is spoken by the largest percentage of people in the country, has immense potentials to engage significantly the largest number of people in the cultural and socio-political affairs of the nation. This potential for enhanced broad-based engagement of the citizens of the country has positive implications for the nation. For example, if it is properly harnessed, especially by using Hausa substantially as a medium of instruction in schools, access to education would be remarkably increased. This would have the potential to facilitate the development of the nation.
As a 20 April, 2023 article by the United Nations, titled “Why mother language-based education is essential,” notes, “UNESCO has been leading the way and advocating for multilingual education based on the mother tongue from the earliest years of schooling. Research shows that education in the mother tongue is a key factor for inclusion and quality learning, and it also improves learning outcomes and academic performance. This is crucial, especially in primary school to avoid knowledge gaps and increase the speed of learning and comprehension.”
The document further states: “And most importantly, multilingual education based on the mother tongue empowers all learners to fully take part in society. It fosters mutual understanding and respect for one another and helps preserve the wealth of cultural and traditional heritage that is embedded in every language around the world.” For practical reasons in specific environments, “education in the mother tongue” is usually qualified with “or in the language of the immediate environment.”
Niger Republic’s adoption of Hausa as its new national or official language in place of French is a remarkable repudiation of neo-colonial dominance. It is also a strategic move to enhance the country’s protection against potential ECOWAS-initiated external aggression. Moreover, it is a significant effort towards eliminating social alienation and disengagement between the elite and the hoi polloi that often attend the adoption of colonialist languages as national or official languages in subjugated nations.
Finally, the new language policy creates the challenges of re-examining or re-defining concepts such as ‘national language’ and ‘official language’, and of contextually defining and elucidating such terms as ‘working language’ and ‘spoken language’. The policy is therefore an interesting linguistic and geo-political development.
