Niger’s National Assembly on Tuesday condemned comments made by Mali’s acting Prime Minister, Abdoulaye Maiga, calling Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum a « foreigner who claims to be from Niger ».
Maiga spoke about Niger on Saturday, September 24, during his speech at the UN podium, during the 77th session of the United Nations.
« We deplore and condemn the remarks made recently by the interim Prime Minister of Mali, at the United Nations platform », said the President of the Nigerien National Assembly, Seini Oumarou, in a statement made on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 2nd Ordinary Session of Parliament for the year 2022.
“I want to reaffirm it here; the sovereign people of Niger have responsibly chosen their leaders through democratic elections. Any contempt for them must necessarily be understood as contempt for all Nigeriens,” he said.
« Let us not forget, the peoples of Niger and Mali are united by centuries-old relations, made of fraternity and ties woven by history and geography », continued Oumarou.
Beyond this development for the attention of Bamako, Seini Oumarou also challenged the West African leaders, even African in general. “We ask all our leaders, in particular those of West Africa, to have measure in all the positions taken involving the future of our countries. Our populations only ask to live in symbiosis and our continent, Africa, cannot develop without solidarity and mutual understanding between all nations,” he urged.
And to add, “the unity of Africa integrates all ethical, moral and political values. We must move more and more towards more integration by going beyond the notion of ethnicity and nationality, which are powerful vectors of division and destabilization of our continent. This is the place to call on African political leaders, at all levels, to behave as brothers and to avoid sterile diatribes and other personalized attacks which risk deviating from our common objectives for a long time.
By OMA Newsletter N° 876 of 09/28/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
