Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T14:07:44.848Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Unis and Bna: the rôle of ‘Traditionalist’ parties in Niger, 1948–601

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Finn Fuglestad
Finn Fuglestad
Affiliation:
Centre of West African Studies, Birmingham and Norwegian Research Council
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The institutional framework imposed upon Niger in 1946, tended to function according to traditional political concepts, norms, notions and values. Hence the distinction established in this paper between ‘traditionalist’ (UNIS/BNA) and ‘modern’ political parties, refers to the degree of reliance upon this traditional culture and also to the degree to which party-leaders were able to manipulate the norms, notions, etc., of the traditional political systems, in order to gain influence within the new institutional framework. The French Administration, functioning largely as an indigenous chieftaincy, was to a certain extent forced to interfere in politics, since an electoral victory for a ‘modern’ political party (i.e. the évolués) would have to be interpreted—according to the logic of traditional political theory—as a loss of the ‘force’, ‘power’ or ‘luck’, without which the French could no longer be regarded as the legitimate rulers of Niger.

If the French finally decided to collaborate with the évolués (and in the process disentangled themselves from the ‘chieftaincy-model’), it was because the évolués constituted the only group capable of grasping the intricate problems of economic development and of running a modern state.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , January 1975 , pp. 113 - 135
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

2 ‘Territoire du Niger. Rapport Politique, année 1951’, p. 62 (AP–Dosso).Google Scholar Abbreviations used in this paper: AP: Archives of the ‘Prefecture’ of…; ASP: Archives of the ‘Sous-Préfecture’ of…; du Niger, T.: Territory of Niger.Google Scholar

3 Unless otherwise stated, the information in this article originates from interviews with Nigeriens and Frenchmen who played a prominent rôle in the years between 1946 and 1958.

4 Schachter, Ruth, ‘Single-Party Systems in West Africa’, American Political Science Review, LV, 2 (1961), 294–307;CrossRefGoogle ScholarSchachter-Morgenthau, Ruth, Political Parties in French-speaking West Africa (2nd ed., Oxford, 1967);Google ScholarHodgkin, Thomas, Nationalism in Colonial Africa (2nd ed., London, 1962);Google ScholarHodgkin, Thomas, African Political Parties (London, 1961).Google Scholar

5 Schachter, , ‘Single-Party Systems…’.Google Scholar

6 Zolberg, Aristide, Creating Political Order. The Party States of West Africa (Chicago, 1966), 33–4.Google Scholar

7 Ibid. 9–10.

8 First, Ruth, The Barrel of a Gun (Harmondsworth, 1972), 56.Google Scholar

9 This paragraph is based on the following works (in addition to works already mentioned above): Ansprénger, Franz, Politik im Schwarzen Afrika: Die modernen politischen Bewegungen im Afrika französischer Prägung (Cologne and Opladen, 1961);CrossRefGoogle ScholarCrowder, Michael, West Africa under Colonial Rule (Evanston, 1968);Google ScholarHamon, Léo, Les partis politiques africains (Paris, 1965);Google Scholar and especially Wallerstein, Immanuel, ‘Élites in French-speaking West Africa: the social basis of ideas’, Journal of Modern African Studies, III, I (1965), 1–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and ‘Class, Tribe and Party in West African Polities’, in Rokkan, Stein and Lipset, S. (ed.), Party Systems and Voter Alignment (New York, 1967).Google Scholar

10 Zolberg, , Creating …, 33.Google Scholar

11 Zolberg, Aristide, ‘The Structure of Political Conflict in the New States of Tropical Africa’, American Political Science Review, LXII, I (1968), 70–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12 Ibid. 71.

13 Ibid. 72.

14 Miège, Jean-Louis, Expansion européenne et décolonisation de 1870 à nos jours (Paris, 1973), 358.Google Scholar

15 du Niger, T., ‘Révue des événements du deuxième trimestre 1954’, pp. 15–16 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

16 The French adjective ‘nigerien’ has been used throughout the paper.

17 National Assembly, Conseil de la République (or Senate) in Paris, Assembly of the French Union in Versailles.

18 Grand Conseil in Dakar.

19 Conseil Général in Niamey (later Territorial Assembly).

20 Speech by Hamani Diori in the French National Assembly, 18 Aug. 1948: Journal Officiel de la République Française. Débats Parlémentaires. Assemblée Nationale, no. 108, 19 08 1948, P. 5922.Google Scholar

21 Fage, John D., On the Nature of African History (An Inaugural lecture delivered in the University of Birmingham on 10 03 1965);Google ScholarFroelich, J.-C., Animismes: Les religions païennes de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (Paris, 1964);Google ScholarLeroux, A., ‘Animisme et Islam dans la Subdivision de Maradi (Niger)’, Bulletin de l'IFAN, x (1948), 595–693;Google ScholarMonfouga-Nicolas, Jacqueline, Ambivalence et culte de possession Contribution à l'étude du Bori hausa (Paris, 1972);Google ScholarNicolas, Guy, ‘Fondements magico-religieux du pouvoir politique au sein de la Principauté Hausa du Gobir’, Journal de la Société des Africanistes, XXXIX, 2 (1969), 199–231;CrossRefGoogle ScholarGuy, Nicolas H. Doumesche and M. dan Mouché, Étude socio-économique de deux villages Hausa (Paris/Niamey, 1968);Google ScholarPiault, Marc-Henri, Histoire Mawri (Paris, 1970);Google ScholarRaulin, Henri, ‘Travail et régimes fonciers au Niger’, Cahiers de l'ISEA, IX (10 1965), 119–39;Google ScholarRaulin, Henri, ‘Un aspect historique des rapports de l'animisme et de l'Islam au Niger’, Journal de la Société des Africanistes, XXXII, 2 (1962), 249–74;Google ScholarRaynaut, Claude, Structures normatives et relations électives (Paris/The Hague, 1972);Google ScholarRouch, Jean, La religion et la magie Songhay (Paris, 1960);Google ScholarRouch, Jean, Les Songhay (Paris, 1954);Google ScholarSére de Rivières, Edmond, Histoire du Niger (Paris, 1965);Google ScholarUrvoy, Yves, Histoire des Populations du Soudan Central (Colonie du Niger) (Paris, 1936).Google Scholar

22 Among the works cited above, see especially Leroux; Nicolas; Piault; Raulin, ‘Un aspect…’, Rouch, La religion….

23 Alexandre, Pierre, ‘Le Problème des Chefferies en Afrique Noire Française’, Notes et Études Documentaires (La Documentation Française), no. 2508, 10 02 1959, p. 8Google Scholar (an English version has been published in Crowder, Michael and Ikime, O. [ed.] West African Chiefs [New York/Ile-Ifé, 1970], 24–78).Google Scholar

24 Froelich, , Animismes, 31.Google Scholar

26 Raulin, , ‘Travail…’, 133.Google Scholar

20 Hill, Polly, Rural Hausa. A Village and a Setting (Cambridge, 1972), 185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

27 de Rivières, S., Histoire du Niger, 70.Google Scholar

28 Rouch, Jean, Contribution à l'histoire des Songhay (Dakar, 1953), 238.Google Scholar

28 Nicolas, , ‘Fondements…’.Google Scholar

30 These beliefs gave rise to a new cult, Holey, Baboulé or Hauka. See Scheurer, , ‘Rapport de Tournée dans le Canton de Kourdeye’, Filingué, 31 03 1944Google Scholar (ASP–Filingué), and Toby, Jean, ‘Lettre du chef de la subdivision de Dogondoutchi au Commandant, Dosso’, 30 11 1926 (ASP–Filingué).Google Scholar

31 Fage, John D., States and Subjects in Sub-Saharan African History, Raymond Dart Lecture, Johannesburg, 1973 (publ. 1974).Google Scholar

32 Bloch, Marc, La Société Féodale. La Formation des liens de dépendance (Paris, 1949), 228–30.Google Scholar

33 Rouch, Jean, Migrations au Ghana 1953–55 (Paris, 1956), 28–9.Google Scholar

34 ‘Lettre, Lieutenant-Gouverneur du Haut–Sénégal–Niger à M. Le Gouverneur-Général a Gouré’, Kayes, 26 Mar. 1906 (Archives Nationales, Section Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, microfilm no. 14 MI 856); and Rash, Yehoshua, ‘Un établissement colonial sans histoires: Les premières années françaises au Niger, 1897–1906’ (unpublished thesis, Paris, 1972), 182–3.Google Scholar

35 For two conflicting views on the Tuareg uprisings, see Salifou, André, Kaoussan ou la Révolte Sénoussiste (Niamey, 1973)Google Scholar and Fuglestad, Finn, ‘Révolte dans le Désert’, unpublished thesis, Aix-en-Provence, 1971Google Scholar (Extracts published under the titles ‘Les révoltes des Touareg du Niger [1916–17]’, Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, XIII, I [1973], 82–120.)Google Scholar

36 See the last chapters of Dunbar, Roberta Ann, ‘Damagaram (Zinder, Niger) 1812–1906: The History of a Central Sudanic Kingdom’, unpublished thesis, Univ. of California at Los Angeles, 1970.Google Scholar

37 Rouch, , Migrations …, 28–9.Google Scholar

38 Arrêté, , 16 01 1941, Journal Officiel, Niger, 1 02 1941, 34.Google Scholar

39 Toby, Jean, ‘Télégramme Officiel à Cercles’, Niamey, 11 12 1942Google Scholar (ASP–Magaria). The French also tried to stop the seasonal migrations to the British territories. See Latour, , ‘Rapport de Tournée’, Dosso, 26 10 1942 (Archives of the Presidency of the Republic, Niamey–A–PRN).Google Scholar

40 See inter alia, ‘Procès-Verbal du Conseil des Notables, Cercle de Zinder’, 2 06 1941 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

41 Leroux, H., ‘Rapport de la Tournée de Récensement effectuée du 27. I. au 2. 3. 1946 dans la subdivision de Magaria’, 1946 (ASP–Magaria).Google Scholar

42 Rouch, , Migrations…, 29.Google Scholar

43 The ‘Commandant’ of Niamey was told by the chief of Karma ‘que je n'étais plus le chef, que … la terre ne m'appartenait plus, qu'elle était à Fily Dabo Sissoko’, who represented Sudan and Niger in the two Constitutional National Assemblies from 1945 to 1946. Colombani, Ignace, ‘Rapport Politique, Ier Semestre 1946, Cercle de Niamey’, Niamey, 31 07 1946, II (ASP–Say).Google Scholar

44 Politics tend to be considered as a zero-sum game in most rural communities. See Redfield, Robert, The Little Community. Peasant Society and Culture (Univ. of Chicago Press, n.d.).Google Scholar

45 This was at least the opinion of Colombani, Ignace, ‘Révue Trimestrielle, année 1947, 2e Trimestre, Cercle de Niamey’, Niamey, 7 07 1947Google Scholar (ASP–Say). One year earlier the same Colombani wrote that ‘la masse, elle, cherche de nouveaux maîtres’ (‘Rapp. Pol. Ier Sem. 1946, C. de Niamey’, op. cit. 8).

48 Statement based on oral sources, corroborated by, inter alia, ‘Circulaire du Comité Central du PPN’, Niamey, 25 Apr. 1947 (ASP–Madaoua) and ‘Comité Central du PPN. Circulaire aux Secrétaires Généraux des comités locaux’, Niamey, 9 June 1949 (ASP–Birni N'Konni).

47 Ake, Claude, ‘Explaining Political Instability in New States’, J. Mod. Afr. Stud., XI, 3 (1973). 347–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

48 Lombard, Jacques, Autorités traditionnelles et pouvoir européen en Afrique noire. Le déclin d'une aristocratie sous le règne colonial (Paris, 1967), 210.Google Scholar

49 Roehrig, Victor, ‘Evolution de l'enseignement au Niger (de ses débuts jusqu'en 1951)’, Niamey (Inspection Académique) 15 10 1951, 2–4 (Private Archives).Google Scholar

50 Schachter-M., R., Political parties…, 29.Google Scholar

51 du Niger, T., ‘Rapport Politique, année 1951’, Niamey, 18 08 1952, 50Google Scholar (AP–Dosso), and Galinier, R., ‘Rapport annuel, Cercle de Zinder, 1953’, Zinder, 1 02 1954, 39 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

52 du Niger, T., ‘Rapp. Pol. 1951’, op. cit. 62.Google Scholar

53 Bonardi, Pierre, La République du Niger. Naissance d'un État (Paris, 1960), 43.Google Scholar

54 I.e. chief of the province of Dosso (Zermakoy = chief of the Zerma).

55 Périé, Jean and Sellier, Michel, ‘Histoire des Populations du Cercle de Dosso (Niger)’, Bulletin de l'IFAN, IV (10 1950), 1015–74 (P. 1074).Google Scholar

56 In a conversation with the author.

57 Speech by Diori, Hamani, French National Assembly, 30 07 1949, J. Officiel de la Rép. Française. D ébats Parlémentaires. Assemblée NationaleGoogle Scholar (henceforth Nat. Assembly), no. 89, 31 July 1949, 5557.

58 Schachter-M., R., Political Parties…, 88–90.Google Scholar

59 Ibid. and oral sources.

60 On the population of Niger, see de Rivières, Edmond Sére, Le Niger (Paris, 1951), 21–31Google Scholar, and Donaint, Pierre and Lancrenon, François, Le Niger (Paris, 1972), 45–61.Google Scholar

61 Bureau des Affaires Politiques et Administratives, ‘Elections Générales du 10.11. 1946’, Niamey, 11 1946 (Archives of the PPN/RDA).Google Scholar

62 Delavignette, R., Freedom and Authority in French West Africa (London, 1950), 24.Google Scholar

63 Gorer, Geoffrey, cited in Hargreaves, J. D., West Africa; the Former French States (Englewood Cliffs, 1967), 141.Google Scholar

64 An administrator serving in Niger expressed this point in the following way: ‘Le danger anti-français vient d'une poignée de semi-intellectuels aigris, cherchant des places, que nous avons suffisamment mal formés pour en faire des ennemis’ (Serre, Jacques, ‘Monographie géographique du canton de Bambeye’, unpublished thesis, Aix-en-Provence, 1950, p. 150).Google Scholar The Commandant of Niamey presented the évolués as ‘rheto-riciens sans rhétorique, architectes sans plans, sociologues primaires, artisans sans art’ (Colombani, Ignace, ‘R. Trim, 2ème Trim. 1947’, op. cit. 5).Google Scholar

65 Schachter-M., R., Political Parties…, 26–7, 90–100.Google Scholar

66 Fauvet, Jacques, La Quatrième République (Paris, 1959), 109–19.Google Scholar

67 ‘Dossiers signalétiques des chefs de canton de Torodi’ (ASP–Say).

68 David, P., Maradi: L'Ancien Etat et l'Ancienne Ville des origines aux Inondations de 1945 (Paris/Niamey, 1964), 28.Google Scholar

69 ‘Journal de poste de Dogondoutchi, 1/1–1935–31/12–1947’, entry for 30/7–1941 (ASP–Dogondoutchi).

70 ‘Procès-Verbal d'Interrogation du chef de canton de Magaria’, Zinder, 7 01 1941 (ASP–Magaria).Google Scholar

71 Bailly, , ‘Récensement, Canton de Myrriah’, 1947 (Archives of the Commissariat Général au Développement, Niamey).Google Scholar

72 ‘Décision no. 0640 APA/F’, 13 Aug. 1945 (reproduced in the Journal Officiel, Niger [monthly] for Sept. 1945).

73 Based on Rash, Urvoy and Raulin, Henri, Techniques et bases socio-économiques des sociétés rurales nigériennes (Paris/Niamey, n.d.).Google Scholar

74 It would take too long to substantiate this point here. I propose to do so in my forthcoming thesis.

75 See, Raulin, , Techniques…Google Scholar, and Sellier, Michel, ‘Lettre du chef de la Subdivision Centrale de Niamey au Commandant de Cercle de Niamey. Objet: Droit foncier indigène’, Niamey, 27 02 1948 (ASP–Say).Google Scholar

76 Assemblée Territoriale du Niger, 2ème Session extraordinaire 1955. Discours d'ouverture prononcé par le Gouverneur Ramadier le 30. Août 1955 (Porto Novo, Imprimérie du Gouvernement), 6–7.Google Scholar

77 Fuglestad, Finn, ‘La Grande Famine de 1931 dans l'Ouest Nigérien’, Révue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer (forthcoming).Google Scholar

78 Rouch, , Migrations….Google Scholar

79 In 1947 the poll tax ranged from 65 to 110 francs in the east, and from 60 to 90 francs in the west. Two years later the figures were 95 to 140 francs in the west and 125 to 220 francs in the east (Journal Officiel, Niger, 1 Mar. 1947 and 1 Jan. 1949.) From 1944 to 1950 ground-nut production, the principal source of revenue of Niger, oscillated between 9,000 and 44,000 tons in the east, between 350 and 1,200 tons in the west. du Niger, T., Rapport sur l'activité des services, année 1955 (Porto Novo, Imprimérie du Gouvernement), 22.Google Scholar

80 See, interalia, ‘Procès-Verbal de la Réunion du Conseil des Notables du Cercle de Zinder’, Zinder, 25 07 1952 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

81 Diori, , Nat. Assembly, 31 07 1949, op. cit. 5557.Google Scholar

82 ‘Circulaire no. 175/APA du Gouverneur p. i. à tous Cercles et Subdivisions’, Niamey, 9 03 1950 (ASP–Magaria).Google Scholar

83 Toby, Jean, ‘Circulaire du Gouverneur’, Niamey, 22 05 1950Google Scholar (ASP–Gaya) and Brouin, G., ‘Rapport Annuel d'Ensemble, 1950, Cercle de Zinder’, vol. I. Zinder, 5 05 1951, 38–9 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

84 Although this paragraph is mainly based on oral sources, many of the events mentioned are related by Diori, H. (Nat. Assembly, 31 07 1949, op. cit. 5559–60).Google Scholar

85 On Djibo Bakary, see Chaffard, Georges, Les Carnets secrets de la Décolonisation (Paris), 11, 270–5Google Scholar, and du Niger, T., ‘Révue … éven. 2e Trim. 1954’, op. cit. 8.Google Scholar

86 du Niger, T., Bureau des APA, ‘Election legislatives, 27 June 1948’ (Archives of the PPN/RDA).Google Scholar

87 Diori, , Nat. Assembly, 31 07 1949, op. cit. 5555passim.Google Scholar

88 Brouin, G., ‘Révue Trimestrielle, 2e Trim. 1951, Cercle de Zinder’, Zinder, 3 07 1951 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

89 Diori, , Nat. Assembly, 31 07 1949, op. cit. 5561.Google Scholar

90 Ibid. 5557–9.

91 Ibid. 5561.

92 Condat, Georges, Nat. Assembly, 31 07 1949, op. cit. 5565.Google Scholar

93 Nat. Assembly, 31 07 1949, 5561.Google Scholar

94 On Zodi Ikhia, see Pujol, G., ‘Fiche de renseignement’, Madaoua, 4 10 1952 (ASP–Madaoua).Google Scholar

95 Nat. Assembly, no. 108, 22 08 1951, 6326–67.Google Scholar

96 Ibid.

97 du Niger, T., ‘Rapport Politique, année 1952’, Niamey, 25 06 1953, 20 (AP–Niamey).Google Scholar

98 ‘Synthèse Mensuelle, Direction des Services de Police du Niger’ (henceforth SM), 11 1955, 10. (This periodical is to be found in most archives in Niger.)Google Scholar

99 Milcent, Ernest, L'A.O.F. entre en scène (Paris, 1958), 51–4.Google Scholar

100 du Niger, T., ‘R. Pol., année 1952’, op. cit. 12–13.Google Scholar

101 du Niger, T., ‘Révue des événements du 4ème Trimestre 1953’ (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

102 Schachter-M., R., Political Parties …, 95.Google Scholar

103 Milcent, , L'A.O.F., 75Google Scholar, and du Niger, T., ‘Révue des événements du Premier Trimestre 1953’, Niamey, 4 03 1953, 3–4Google Scholar (AP–Zinder). See also du Niger, T., ‘Rapport Politique, année 1953’, Niamey, 18 05 1954 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

104 SM, 31 05 1957, 5.Google Scholar

105 On Ramadier's policy in general, see Chaffard, , Les Carnets, 271–3Google Scholar and especially his speeches (op. cit. and Discours prononcé à la séance d'ouverture de la session ordinaire de l'Assemblée Territoriale du Niger, Niamey, le 29 Mars 1955, Niamey: Imprimerie Fontanon).

106 Niger-Information (government newspaper), 20 06 1956, 2–3.Google Scholar

107 du Niger, T., ‘Révue des événements du quatrième trimestre 1951’, 13 (AP–Zinder).Google Scholar

108 SM, 25 09 1956, 2.Google Scholar

109 SM, 25 10 1956, 2.Google Scholar

110 SM, 31 10 1956 (‘Note d'Information’).Google Scholar

111 SM, 12 1956, 5.Google Scholar (The interterritorial MSA held its constitutional congress 11–13 Jan. 1957 [Milcent, 104].)

112 Milcent, , L'A.O.F., 102, 105.Google Scholar

113 The local committees of the party in Zinder in 1954 and in Tessaoua in 1956, had taken together only one member who can be defined as an évolué: ‘Procès-Verbal de l'Assemblée Constituante de l'UDN, Comité Régional de Zinder’ (AP–Zinder) and UDN, Section locale de Tessaoua, ‘Procès-Verbal de l'Assemblée Générale’ (ASP–Tessaoua).

114 Fuglestad, Finn, ‘Djibo Bakary, the French, and the referendum of 1958 in Niger’, J. Afr. Hist. XIV, 2 (1973), 313–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar