Weekly Blog - 24 July 2023 - Niger Coup
Niger coup
This week on Wednesday 26 July, General Abdourahmane Tchiani declared himself leader of Niger after staging a coup. President Mohamed Bazoum has been deposed and is being held by the military. This is the fifth successful coup since Niger became independent from France in 1960. There have been many other unsuccessful coup attempts since then too. Niger is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world. Two of Niger’s neighbours, Mali and Burkina Faso, have also experienced military coups in the past couple of years. Even more worryingly, both countries have aligned themselves more closely with the current Russian regime since their coups. Yevgeny Prigozhin the leader of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, that is widely active in Africa, reportedly praised the outcome of the coup in Niger.[1] This latest coup is part of a wider worrying trend set out in the annual Freedom in the World report from Freedom House earlier this year. This shows that the state of democracy and human rights in the world has been declining for the last seventeen years, although there are some more encouraging signs that this trend may be bottoming out.
The importance of democracy
In our modern world, democracy has been one of the most effective ways of making sure the Biblical principle that all governments, everywhere, should rule well, with justice, fairness, impartiality and integrity is put into practice. As God instructs the leaders of his people in Deuteronomy, “Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Deut 16: 18 – 20). Democracies have a much better track record of governing well and effectively with justice, and good standards of human rights, civil liberties and basic freedoms than autocratic states do (The Arise Manifesto, pg 102 – 108). A major report from Arise, The Arise Manifesto, looks in detail at what standards for democracy, human rights and good governance countries should have (The Arise Manifesto, pg 79 – 85).
Reform movements
When it comes to improving democracy, human rights and good governance, bottom-up popular peaceful reform movements have again and again proved to be the most successful method of doing this. We have seen such movements work successfully in Serbia, Madagascar, Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Nepal, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, East Germany, Slovenia, Bolivia, the Philippines, Zambia, South Korea, Chile, Argentina, Haiti, Brazil, Uruguay, Malawi, Thailand, Bulgaria, Hungary, Nigeria, and many other countries in recent decades. And it may well be that it is to such a movement that the people of Niger must look now, to restore democracy in their nation.
Such peaceful bottom-up reform movements avoid playing into the hands of regimes by confronting them in the area of physical force, where the regime is strong. Instead they peacefully refuse to cooperate with the regime, and continually expand the numbers involved, increasingly isolating the regime until it is forced to concede. Where such reform movements have been successful, they have seized the initiative with a clear strategy and tactics that continually evolve, to keep the regime off balance and reactive. They have built ever larger coalitions and attracted mass numbers of people who have demonstrated peacefully in visible city centres. They have also used non-violent direct action like strikes, sit ins and occupying areas. Where governments have responded with force, they have turned that against them, using the outrage it sparks to gather ever greater support. Successful reform movements have made good use of inspirational leaders, and used social media and other communications routes well, to get their message out. They have captured the sympathy of the international community, the media, and more and more sectors of society, increasingly isolating the regime, until the regime is forced to concede and reform (Arise Manifesto, pg 86 – 88, 108 – 119).
Of course such movements also require great courage and perseverance from those involved. They are not guaranteed to succeed every time. But overwhelmingly the power of ordinary people peacefully refusing to submit is remarkable, and has continually proved the most successful way to improve democracy, human rights and good governance in nations around the world. Christians and churches have played a hugely important central role in such reform movements in nations all around the world (Arise Manifesto, pg 283 – 303). They have worked well alongside journalists, academics, activists, students, trade unions and others in the movement. Supporting such bottom-up Reform Movements in countries around the world (and the Christians that are so often at the heart of them) is one of three key focus campaigns for Arise.
Niger faces many challenges: widespread poverty, conflict and instability, and now charting a path back to genuine democracy after this latest military coup, in a difficult and volatile region. No one can say quite how this story will unfold in the coming weeks, months and years. But a domestic bottom-up reform movement, with Christians playing a key role, is in the long-term the strongest hope for Niger to again become and remain a healthy democratic nation.
Find out more
Find out more about how God is at work in the world, and the role we all have to play in that work, in the Arise Manifesto. This report is Arise’s big picture, researched, Biblical, holistic and practical vision for a better world. It looks at what the Bible says, and what we can learn from the best data and the world’s leading experts on the five major areas of evangelism, discipleship, social justice, development and the environment. It then draws these lessons together into a practical road map for the changes we need to see in our world, which the Arise movement campaigns to achieve.
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[1] Niger coup: Abdourahmane Tchiani declares himself leader, BBC, (28 Jul 2023), https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66337767