President Mohamed Bazoum was the guest of our colleagues from TV5 Monde this Saturday, one year to the day after his election as head of Niger. He tackled many domestic subjects such as demography, education, poverty. But he also spoke at length on international issues and the security situation in the Sahel, in particular on the G5 Sahel force, which ” lead in the wing ” according to him,.
Asked about the popularity of Malian power, which he has widely criticized in recent months, mohamed bazoum wanted to be cautious. But his hint the death in prison of the former Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga was clear.
” I’m not sure he’s popular. How do you know if it’s popular? In the context of our countries which have been tired by promises which have not been kept, there is great disenchantment today and then a certain fatality to which the citizens are submitting, said the Nigerian president. If, above all, we take the precaution of telling them that even if you are sick you can die in prison, I think that’s the way we should understand things ».
Regarding the redeployment he wants of the Barkhane force from Mali to Niger, he indicated that formal talks would begin soon. With, according to him, an objective for Niger: “ The only thing we owe to our people and that they expect us to do something about is to keep them safe, he assured. What are the means we can use? Who can we organize with? It’s our business! »
For him the growing anti-French feeling in Africa is not a subject. In strong terms, he insisted that what Nigeriens expect above all from him is that he be “efficient” and that his promises be kept.
►Also read: Niger: Mohamed Bazoum defends the arrival of additional foreign soldiers