As we reported in the last issue of Sahara Focus (SF1216), the Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, held in Dakar on 5 December, ended amidst as much bitterness as there was harmony. Delegates from Niger, especially, made it very clear that the Western military presence in the country, and the wider Sahel region, was being increasingly contested. The Western military presence is creating growing hostility among large sections of Nigerien society.

As we emphasised last month, the ‘military recolonisation of Niger’ (as some people are calling it) is arousing controversy among the population. Others are becoming more ‘anti-West’ on the grounds that they believe that the western powers are deliberately channeling the fight against ‘terrorism’ into Niger. Indeed, there is some truth in this belief. It is becoming increasingly clear that the West knows that it cannot defeat jihadism, at least in the short term, and is therefore regarding the Sahel as a containment area. One Nigerien civil society leader told the Dakar Forum that ‘Niger is becoming a sort of panacea for Western powers [and that] northeastern Niger is already in the hands of [foreign] powers that practically control most of the country.’ Another Nigerien from Agades was reported as saying: ‘This [the US base at Agades] is not good for the people of Niger, it is not to secure the population. They are here to impose a war we do not want.’

A bigger problem for the West, and France in particular, may come from the Nigerien military. A high percentage of Niger’s soldiers believe that France serves its own interests and that it contributes to the instability or aggravation of the conflict. Army officers see the Western military presence as an attack on national sovereignty. They also see the former colonial power’s support as ineffectual, largely because the French forces relegate Niger’s own troops to a subordinate role, invariably denying them access to key data regarding terrorist movements, and other such information.

With the Western powers now stressing the importance of their working with and supporting the Sahel G5 militaries, this feeling of generalised frustration by local militaries against France and the West in general raises serious questions about the sustainability of military cooperation in the Sahel region.