Hundreds of people gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Centre in Niamey, Niger, on November 19 for the inauguration of a historic “Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel”. The three-day conference was organized by Pan Africanism Today and the West African People’s Organization.
The conference takes place at a vital time. The Sahel has seen a decisive uprising against French imperialism over the past few years. Military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have brought into power regimes which have refused to surrender their sovereignty to France. These governments have expelled French forces and are trying to free their countries from France’s dominance over their economies.
“We will face the might of imperialism,” said the Governor of Niamey. “No military power in the world can stop the bid for independence and the rejection of the former world order,” he added, saying what was happening in Niger was an irreversible process.
For their efforts, these countries have faced isolation from their neighbors—especially the ECOWAS countries—who have imposed sanctions causing great hardship. The three countries responded by coming together and forming the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This alliance not only stood by Niger when it faced threats of invasion from ECOWAS countries, but its members are also intensifying economic cooperation.
It was in this context that the participants and speakers at the inauguration extended their solidarity and support to the revolutionary process in the Sahel region. From across the world, representatives of people’s organizations and social movements reaffirmed the importance of the resistance in the Sahel.
Addressing the audience, Philippe Toyo Noudjenoume, President of the West African People’s Organization, said, “You are breaking colonial contracts and setting the stage for liberty and rights to prevail in your country… The people of Sahel are a great example for the people of Africa and the rest of the world.”
Neuri Rossetto of the International Peoples’ Assembly spoke about the significance of the need for global unity in fighting imperialism. “We will continue to fight for our basic rights. Capitalism and imperialism offer death and destruction and exploitation. Our commitment is towards our people, not towards capitalists and imperialists,” he added.
“It is imperative that we must align ourselves with our people’s needs rather than the financial interests of imperialism,” said Jonis Ghedi Alasow of the Pan Africanism Today Secretariat. It is in this context that the Alliance of Sahel States stands as a beacon of hope, he said, adding that a “breakthrough of the people’s camp in these countries is a breakthrough of the working class in Africa and the entire world.”
The anti-imperialist surge in the Sahel has just begun. French and US troops have been forced to leave Niger but the difficult tasks of fighting terrorism and carving an independent economic path remain. Mamane Sani Adamou of the Revolutionary Organisation for New Democracy ORDN – Tarmouwa in Niger, said the recent developments mark a second awakening for the people. “We are living through a patriotic revolution, a struggle for a second independence,” he said. The next step, he said, was to set the basis of economic sovereignty. The questions of food sovereignty, an independent currency, and the framework of the IMF and the WB remain before the people. “We need to adopt a new strategy,” he said, adding that, “the difference today is that we are deciding on our own. We no longer get instructions from Paris. We take instructions at home.”
Throughout the inauguration, poets and singers gave performances which centered around the struggle for dignity and sovereignty—political, economic, and cultural.
Battling imperialism
On the afternoon of the first day, a panel discussion, “Imperialism on a Rampage, Signs of the End” was organized. The speakers included Carlos Ron of the Simon Bolivar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples and Fred M’membe of the Socialist Party of Zambia, in addition to Mamane Sani Adamou and Jonis Ghedi Alasow from the Pan Africanism Today Secretariat. The speakers elaborated on the history of imperialism and how it has entered into a phase of desperation.
“Hyper-imperialism has desperately tried to maintain the hegemony it has had since the fall of the Soviet Union,” said Carlos Ron. According to Ron, this puts the entire planet, and humanity itself, at risk. He added that each country must find its alternative to achieve freedom and dignity, talking about the struggle of Venezuela against US imperialism and the assault it has suffered as a result. He called for greater solidarity and mobilization against the atrocities of imperialism in every part of the world.
The people of Africa have been humiliated and robbed of their dignity for centuries, said Fred M’membe. While the countries of Africa gained independence, neocolonialism has continued, and a neocolonial state can never be democratic, he added. On the other hand, “what is going on in the Sahel is a revolutionary process which needs to be defended and advanced,” he said.