Military government of Niger Republic officially made Hausa the national language of the country, a drastic change from its colonial past and a further departure from France, its colonial master.
The announcement was made in a new national charter issued on March 31 in a special edition of the nation’s official gazette. “The National Language is Hausa,” states the document, while English and French are to be the government’s language of work.
The policy change is among a string of drastic changes by the junta since it ousted former President Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023. The junta has also cut diplomatic relations with France, kicked out French military officers, and dropped French names from public institutions in an attempt to assert national identity.
The embrace of Hausa a tongue common to the majority of Niger’s 26 million citizens, especially the Zinder, Maradi, and Tahoua regions is commonly viewed as a step toward consolidating cultural autonomy. Conversely, only roughly 13% of the citizens use French, a legacy of colonialism.
Apart from Hausa, the charter identifies nine other local languages such as Zarma-Songhay, Fula, Kanuri, Gourmanche, and Arabic as the “spoken languages of Niger.” The language change is after a national conference in February, where delegates approved General Abdourahamane Tiani’s retention of the leadership for another five years, in effect entrenching the junta’s grip on power. Niger’s move follows identical actions by Mali and Burkina Faso, also former French colonies now ruled by military governments.
All three nations have pulled out of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) a global body promoting the French language worldwide a move that indicates a synchronized shift away from French influence in the region.
