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12 Things You Didn’t Know About Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou

12 Things You Didn’t Know About Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou

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Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou has been in power since 2011, but was involved in the country’s politics — largely as an opposition figure — for more than two decades. Niger’s first civilian leader since its last coup in 2010, Issoufou faced his fair share of issues as president, but has enjoyed a largely peaceful period since his election. Here are 12 things you didn’t know about Niger’s Mahamadou Issoufou.

Sources: AlJazeera.com, Britannica.com, DW.de, MyAfrica.AllAfrica.com, WorldDiplomacy.org, BBC.co.uk

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Issoufou is an ethnic Hausa

Issoufou was born in 1952 in the town of Dandaji in the Tahoua Department. He is an ethnic Hausa, and has been faced with long-standing ethnic tensions with Tuaregs and other ethnic groups in Niger throughout his presidency.

TamtamGuinee.com
TamtamGuinee.com

He has two wives

As is somewhat common in Niger tradition, Issoufou has two spouses. He first wed Aïssata Issoufou, a trained chemist and mining specialist, and later married Dr. Malika Issoufou Mahamadou, who has a background in tropical medicine.

GeoPolitique-Africaine.com
GeoPolitique-Africaine.com

Issoufou is an engineer by trade

After training in France in engineering during the late 1970s, Issoufou returned to Niger in 1979 to serve as director of mines, a post he held from 1980 to 1985. Following this, he became the secretary general of the French-controlled Mining Company of Niger (or Société des Mines de l’Aïr/SOMAIR), where he stayed until his foray into fulltime politics in 1993.

News.Aniamey.com
News.Aniamey.com

He was a founding member of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism-Tarayya

In 1990, Issoufou helped to found the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism-Tarayya (Parti Nigérien pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme-Tarayya/PNDS). The party won 13 seats in Niger’s first multiparty legislative and presidential elections in 1993, at which point Issoufou gained a seat as a PNDS candidate in the Tahoua constituency.

AfriqueInside.com
AfriqueInside.com

He resigned as prime minister after President Mahamane Ousmane reduced his power

In April 1993, Issoufou was elected prime minister when the PNDS and its coalition won the parliamentary majority. A year later, however, President Ousmane passed a decree that weakened the power of the prime minister. The PNDS drew out of the coalition, causing it to lose its majority. New parliamentary elections were held in January 1995.

Abidjan.net
Abidjan.net

Issoufou was arrested following the 1996 coup

At the time of the coup, Issoufou was serving in his new role as the president of the National Assembly. Political deadlock and resentment between parliamentary members and President Ousmane grew, and Issoufou called for Ousmane’s removal from office for “incapacity to govern.” The next day, Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara successfully took over the government in a military coup, arresting Issoufou, Ousmane, and then-Prime Minister Hama Amadou and placing them under house arrest.

Source: MyAfrica.AllAfrica.com

Lemde.fr
Lemde.fr

Issoufou ran unsuccessful presidential campaigns four times

For four elections in a row – 1993, 1996, 1999, and 2004 – Issoufou ran unsuccessfully for the presidency. He finished second to Mamadou Tandja in the latter two elections.

ActuNiger.com
ActuNiger.com

Issoufou was charged with misappropriation of funds in 2009

During the decade-long rule of President Mamadou Tandja, Issoufou was the main opposition leader, often referring to Tandja’s attempts to retain power as a coup d’état. In September 2009, Issoufou was charged with misappropriation of funds and released on bail, a charge he claims was drawn up for political reasons. Issoufou left the country following his release, but returned in October after international warrants for his arrest were issued.

LeFigaro.fr
LeFigaro.fr

He became president following another military coup

President Tandja was deposed in a military coup conducted in February 2010, and a military transitional government was put in place for one year. Issoufou was named as the PNDS’s candidate in the January 2011 election, which he won in a March 2011 runoff election with 58 percent of the vote.

Koaci.com
Koaci.com

Issoufou honored his pledge to Tuareg rebels by appointing a Tuareg prime minister

Immediately after his inauguration, Issoufou appointed Brigi Rafini as prime minister. This was in accordance with the peace agreements that had been signed with Tuareg rebels in Northern Niger, which Issoufou pledged throughout his campaign to honor.

TV5Monde.com
TV5Monde.com

Issoufou’s government uncovered a planned assassination plot in July 2011

In July 2011, a planned assassination plot against Issoufou was thwarted. Army officials had planned to assassinate the president at a press conference to mark 100 days in power, leaving the office of the presidency open to another military coup. Members of the Nigerien military, including a major, a lieutenant, and three soldiers were arrested.

FinancialAfrik.com
FinancialAfrik.com

Issoufou has faced civil unrest over his perceived inability to improve living conditions

In the first major rally since his election, Nigeriens took to the streets in December 2013 to protest food insecurity, media censorship, and overall government corruption. The organizers of the rally, a coalition of opposition parties known as the Alliance for the Republic, Democracy and Reconciliation in Niger (ARDR), said 30,000 people attended the rally. Police put the figure at closer to 2,000. The ARDR was formed from 15 opposition parties in October 2013 as a response to Issoufou’s creation of a national unity government.

Source: DW.de