In a move further distancing itself from its former colonial power, France, Niger’s ruling military junta has officially adopted Hausa as the national language, replacing French.
Since seizing power from civilian president Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023, Niger’s military leaders have cut ties with France, expelling French troops and renaming streets and monuments with French associations.
A new charter, published in the official journal on March 31st, declares that “the national language is Hausa” and that “the working languages are English and French.”
Niger, along with fellow former French colonies now under military rule, Mali and Burkina Faso, has withdrawn from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), a post-colonial organization similar to the Commonwealth.
Hausa is the most prevalent language in Niger, a country with a population of 26 million, particularly in the central-southern areas of Zinder and Maradi, and in Tahoua in the west.
Approximately 13 percent of the population, just over three million people, speak French.
The new charter also recognizes nine other languages, including Zarma-Songhay, Fula, Kanuri, Gourmanche, and Arabic, as “the spoken languages of Niger.”
This new charter is a result of a national conference held in February, which consolidated the junta’s power by authorizing its leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, to remain in office for the next five years.
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