Hamani Diori

Hamani Diori ( born June 6, 1916 in Soudouré, † April 23, 1989 in Rabat ) was from 1960 to 1974 the first President of Niger.

Politician

Diori belonged to the ethnic group of the Zarma and was from the west of the country. After school, he attended the École normale supérieure William Ponty in Dakar and became a teacher. In this profession he was from 1936 to 1938 worked in Niger and later worked as a language teacher in Paris.

In 1946 he went into politics and was co-founder of the Nigerien Progressive Party ( PPN), which belonged to the movement Rassemblement Démocratique Africain collection ( RDA). Since 10 November 1946 he represented the Niger in the French National Assembly. He belonged to the Parliament by April 1951. January 2, 1956, he was a second time a member of the National Assembly and was one of the deputy Speaker of Parliament. In his capacity as a French deputy, he was also a deputy in the European Parliament. In contrast to his political rival Djibo Bakary and relatives, he supported the referendum of 1958 the draft Constitution Charles de Gaulle for the Fifth Republic, and spoke out against immediate independence. When the French territories of French West Africa became autonomous, he took over on 14 December 1958, the Office of the Prime Minister of Niger.

President

After gaining independence from France on August 3, 1960, he was on November 10, the first president of the country, the National Assembly had voted for him two days earlier as head of state. As in most other former French possessions a one-party state with the PPN - RDA was established as the sole legal party. A coup attempt against him was completed in 1963 with the help of stationed in the capital Niamey French soldiers. During his tenure, he was re-elected twice. In the elections on September 30, 1965, in the elections on October 1, 1970, he received each unopposed in just a few invalid ballots 100 % of the votes. In addition to the presidential office he held until 1963 and from 1965 to 1967, the office of Foreign Minister.

In foreign policy, he relied on close ties to France and was a patron of the Francophonie. Since the late 1950s the country for France played an important role as a supplier of uranium to build up the force de frappe. In addition, he worked several times as mediator in intra-African conflicts. With the heads of state of Upper Volta, Dahomey and the Ivory Coast, he founded the Conseil de l' Entente to strengthen regional cooperation. Domestically, he ruled the government was seen as authoritarian and corrupt. As a result of famine in the Sahel, from the early 1970s and the Niger was concerned, his government fell because of insufficient redistribution of international assistance under increasing pressure. The Chief of Staff of the Army, Seyni Kountché, finished Dioris presidency on April 15, 1974 by a coup and ruled until his death in 1987.

Last years

Diori remained in custody until 1980 and stood until 1987 under house arrest. After Kountché death, he was allowed to leave the country and went into exile to Morocco, where he died.

Swell

Fischer World Almanac - biographies of contemporary history since 1945, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, ISBN 3-596-24553-2