Statement of the Revolutionary Socialist Vanguard (RSV), Nigerian Section of the RCIT, 28th July, 2023. https//:www.communism4africa.wordpress.com
The Nigerien president, Mohamed Bazoum, has been deposed through a coup staged by the presidential guard. The 2000 strong presidential guard detained Bazoum on Wednesday and announced on state television that they were taking over the government. The Nigerien Armed Forces despite initially threatening to launch a counter-offensive against the presidential guard to reinstate the president has come out in support of the putchists. These developments have drawn condemnation from Western governments like the US and France as well as international organisations and regional blocs like the UN and ECOWAS. With the coup in Niger been the 6th in a row for the past 3 years in the Sahelian Belt the capitalist crises might have plunged the region into a more protracted “coup season”.
Irrespective of the “security concerns” of the coup plotters the coup has every probability of further destabilising an already volatile region which is swarming with extremist armed groups linked to Daesh and Al Qaeda especially Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani militias known as Bandits in Nigeria which shares a northern border with Niger. Moreso, the extent of unrest that will be elicited by the coup remains to be seen as there are already anti- and pro-coup demonstrations in Niamey.
Niger is one of the most underdeveloped semi-colonial countries in the world. It’s large deposits of uranium and other mineral resources have been exploited by the imperialist West for decades. It lies at the bottom of the UN’s Human Development Index and has been a recipient of the UN’s humanitarian aid for years. As has been mentioned the country is plagued with attacks from armed extremist groups and national conflicts with countless lives lost and thousands displaced. Its borders are flashpoints for the cross national operations of this extremist groups against each other and security forces of the border countries. All these is more and more compounded by a deepening capitalist crises which has heightened food inflation and worsened environmental conditions. Now with the advent of the coup the UN has suspended it supply of aid to Niger.
The coup is a blow against US imperialism which has long maintained its grip over successive Nigerien governments. Its gigantic drone base in the northern region of Agadez is used as a satellite to launch the “War On Terror” campaign in North and Central Africa. It is another step in the general decline of European imperialist influence in the region as France which has recently moved troops to Niger after they were expelled from Mali and Burkina Faso may be threatened yet again to remove its troops from the region, this time permanently.
In contrast, the rapprochement of military juntas in the region from Mali to Burkina Faso and now Niger with Russia is set to improve. Yevgeny Prigozine, the leader of the notorious Russian backed Wagner Group, has called for “a new journey to Africa” just days before the coup.¹ While no links can be traced to his statement and the coup, the influence of Russia in the region remains a decisive factor in the political turns in the region.
Socialists oppose the coup, it is a fight between two equally reactionary wings of the Nigerien ruling class. It is an extension of the bonapartist shift of the ruling class following similar coups in Mali, Sudan, and Burkina Faso. While we oppose all forms of dictatorial governments we give no support to the Bazoum government. Hence, we call socialists revolutionaries, progressives and activists to defend freedom of expression including protests and demonstrations. We call for the expulsion of US/European troops from Niger and an end to the weaponisation of UN humanitarian aid as tool of cohesion in semi-colonial countries.
At the same time we denounce the growing influence of the Eastern imperialists — Russia and China, in Africa. We stand against any admission of the Wagner Group into Niger. For international food and medical aid to Niger. No to Western sanctions against Niger. All imperialists whether from the East or West are robbers and thieves, they must all be expelled from the region. Armed extremist violence in Africa is the aftermath of colonial subjugation and imperialist exploitation. Thus we call for a free socialist Niger as part of a voluntary Confederation of West African Socialist Republics. This free socialist Niger must have a Workers and Poor Peasant government that will lay the foundation for the course of total decolonisation.
[1] Russia’s Wagner boss appears to hail Niger coup, tout services https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/28/russias-wagner-boss-appears-to-hail-niger-coup-tout-services
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For more on coups and the political situation in West and Central Africa see:
Mali: The Imperialist Puppet Ruler Keita Has Fallen!
Imperialist and African rulers protest against the end of the reactionary regime – but workers and oppressed must take power in their own hand!
Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 19 August 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/mali-the-imperialist-puppet-ruler-keita-has-fallen/
MALIANS, DON’T REPEAT THE MISTAKE OF HISTORY!
For independent bodies of the popular masses to lead the struggle! For a Revolutionary Constituent Assembly now!
https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/malians-don-t-repeat-the-mistake-of-history/
Why Are the Coups Happening in Africa
By Oladipupo Jimoh, International Liaison Personnel of the Revolutionary Socialist Vanguard (RSV),
Defend the Non-Arab Ethnic Militias in Dafur!
No Collaboration With Either Sudanese Armed Forces or the Rapid Support Forces!
For A Popular Armed Insurrection To Defeat the Two Generals!
Statement of the Revolutionary Socialist Vanguard (RSV), Nigerian Section of the RCIT. 6th June, 2023. https://communism4africa.wordpress.com/2023/06/07/defend-the-non-arab-ethnic-militias-in-west-dafur/
Revolutionary Socialist Vanguard (RCIT Section in Nigeria) 
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