Niger’s junta-run government, which has cut ties with France, the former colonial power, said Monday that it was leaving the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, a global association of French-speaking countries.
“The Nigerien government has independently decided to withdraw Niger from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie,” stated the ministry of foreign affairs.
Following the overthrow of elected president Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023 by a military coup, Niger was expelled from the group.
The OIC, which consists of 88 states, had called for Bazoum’s release and a prompt restoration of constitutional order. The new rulers of the West African nation are still holding the overthrown president and his wife.
The military rulers of Niger have abandoned Paris in favour of establishing connections with Russia and other juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali.
A new national song, “For the Honour of the Fatherland,” was chosen by Niger just before the coup and refers to the anti-colonial struggle.
It took the place of “La Nigerienne,” a song penned by French composer Maurice Albert Thiriet in 1961, one year after the nation attained independence.
