Whether it is Ukraine, Sudan, or now Niger, unrest, violence, chaos, death and oftentimes regime change follow Victoria Nuland wherever she goes.
Nuland was a key figure in the 2014 Maidan protests which broke out in Ukraine. Leading to the ouster of then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. Yanukovich had a much too friendly relationship with Russia, which impeded Ukraine from acquiring EU membership and NATO encroaching on the Russian border. There it was determined in the U.S. that Yanukovich needed to be replaced with a more Western friendly puppet, namely, Petro Poroshenko.
As we have seen, the situation in Ukraine only went from bad to worse.
Sudan is another country also guilty of maintaining good terms with Russia. In February, Sudan confirmed a deal for a Russian naval base. This could not be tolerated by the U.S. and Nuland was immediately deployed to address the development.
The following timeline of events speaks for itself:
Now, we see the same developments in Niger. Niger was run by Western supported President Bazoum. He was overthrown by military leader Moussa Salaou Barmou last month over rising discontent at the economic instability the country is facing.
Niger was a former French colony and had military cooperation pacts with France. The military coup leadership announced a unilateral termination of these pacts on Thursday.
France has refused to withdraw their troops and does not recognize the current military leadership. Stating their agreements stand with the rightful and lawful, Nigerien authorities.
Since then, massive anti-French, and anti-foreign influence protests have erupted across the country demanding the French military leave. Protestors have also shown support for Russia, as they march with the Russian flag.
For many African countries, Russia has become an icon of anti-imperialist resistance, as they stand firm against NATO, U.S. sanctions and proxy war.
In the wake of all of this, Nuland was quickly dispatched to Niger Monday, to impose pressure on the military leadership via threat of sanctions. Nuland described her meeting with the military leadership as “frank and difficult”. When she requested a meeting with Bazoum, she was firmly denied.
The regional group, ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), supported by the U.S., has also threatened sanctions against Niger. ECOWAS is the UN’s economic body for West African Nations. It has 15 members, three who have been recently suspended because of military coups, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.
Burkina Faso and Mali, like Niger, are former French colonies and anti-French sentiment is running high; while Russian and Chinese influence is growing. This is a threat to Western dominance.
The U.S. has two military bases in Niger and has provided the country millions of dollars in security and development assistance. The U.S. suspended this aid last week, which is said to be over $100 million, as reported by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Meanwhile, Niger’s military leaders announced the appointment of Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as prime minister on Monday evening.
If political pressure wasn’t enough, the Catholic Bishops in West Africa, have expressed their “spiritual closeness” with Nigeriens following the takeover. Ironically, Niger’s population is 96% Muslim.
While Niger is protesting against French colonialism and imperialist power, they would be wise to rid their country of Catholic influence as well. The Catholic Church has brought nothing good to Africa, and is responsible for hundreds of years of slavery, violence, and genocide in Africa.
Members of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) at the closing Mass of their fourth plenary assembly in Abuja, Nigeria on 8 May 2022. Credit: ACI Africa
