Timeline Niger
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Africa Index: http://www.africaindex.africainfo.no/pages/Country_pages/Niger/
CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ng.html
Emulate: http://www.emulateme.com/niger.htm
NewAfrica: http://www.newafrica.com/profiles/niger.htm
TravelDocs: http://www.traveldocs.com/ne/index.htm
Niger is landlocked in north central Africa, south of
Algeria and Libya
and is twice the size of Texas. Some 2/3 of the country is covered by
the Sahara Desert. As of 2002 nine major languages were spoken here.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)(WSJ, 5/10/02, p.A5)
The Tuareg nomads compete with the Wodaabe over land and water.
(SFEM, 10/11/98, p.59)
The Wodaabe nomads number about 40-50,000 and move constantly
across the Sahel between Niger, Mali and Northern Nigeria. They are of
Fulani origin, a race scattered all over West Africa.
(SFEM, 10/11/98, p.40)
135Mil BC In 1999 scientists
reported that they had assembled the fossils of the dinosaur named
Jobaria tiguidensis, a 20-ton Sauropod with spoon-shaped teeth found in
the Sahara Desert of Niger.
(SFC, 11/12/99, p.A4)
110Mil BC The giant Sarcosuchus imperator,
“flesh-eating crocodile emperor,” lived about this time in what later
became the Tenere Desert.
(SFC, 10/26/01, p.D6)
110Mil BC Univ. of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno
unearthed Kryptops palaios, a short-snouted, hyena-like beast, and
Eocarcharia dinops, a shark-toothed, bony-browed killer, during an
expedition in the Niger Desert in 2000. The fish-eating, sail-backed
Suchomimus or "crocodile mimic," was found in 1997. The animals
originally lived in the southern landmass that was known as Gondwana.
(Reuters, 2/13/08)(AP, 2/14/08)
95Mil BC A dinosaur fossil named Rugops primus,
unearthed in Niger in 2000, dated to this time. It belonged to a group
of southern dinosaurs called abelisaurids, also found in South America,
Madagascar and India and indicated the Africa was still connected to
Gondwana at this time.
(AP, 5/30/04)
95Mil BC Fossils of Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis, a
meat-eating dinosaur from this time, was first found in Morocco in the
1920s. Better fossils were found in Niger in 1997. The upright-walking
creature grinned with a mouth full of banana-sized teeth, stood taller
than a double-decker bus and weighed more than two standard-sized cars.
"It seems that shallow seas divided Morocco and Niger, promoting
evolutionary separation of the species living in the two regions."
(www.livescience.com/animals/071211-big-dinosaur.html)
6000BC In 2008 scientists reported that robust
hunter-gathers, known as Kiffians, apparently abandoned the Gobero
region of Niger during a long drought that dried up a lake about this
time. The dried-up lake in the Sahara was found brimming with the
skeletons of people, fish and crocodiles who thrived when the African
desert was briefly green.
(Reuters, 8/15/08)
5000BC-2500BC Scientists in 2008 said a second group
settled the Gobero region of Niger during this period. These were
Tenerians, smaller, shorter people who hunted, herded and fished.
(Reuters, 8/15/08)
1950s In the 1950s when the French
gave independence to their West African colonies, the Touareg people
and their ancestral lands were parceled out among the newly created
nations of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania and Chad.
(www.jacneed.com/10Tinariwen.htm)
1958 France granted Niger complete
autonomy.
(EWH, 1st ed., p.1170)
1960 Aug 3, Niger gained
independence from France. Hamani Diori was president.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A12)(SC, 8/3/02)(EWH, 1st ed.,
p.1170)
1968-1973 A severe famine hit the Sahel region of
North Africa. Mauritania, Mali, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) and Niger
were most affected.
(Econ, 8/20/05, p.57)
1975 May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was
signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was
formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1985-1997 Some 60 million trees were planted over
this period to stave off the encroaching Sahara Desert that expands by
500,000 acres each year. About half the trees have survived.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A12)
1989 Sep 19, A Paris-bound French
DC-10, UTA Flight 772, was bombed over the Sahara desert of Niger and
all 170 passengers died. French authorities placed the blame on Libya’s
Abdallah Senoussi, brother-in-law of Moammar Khadafy and chief of
foreign operations for the Libyan secret service. The six Libyan
suspects were named by a French judge in 1998 and tried in absentia in
1999. The attack was in retaliation for French intervention on behalf
of Chad in a war with Libya since the mid 1980s. In 2004 Libya signed a
$170 million compensation accord with families of the people killed. In
2008 a federal judge in Washington ordered Libya and six of its
officials to pay more than $6 billion in damages to the families of 7
Americans killed in the attack.
(SFC, 5/7/97, p.C3)(SFEC,10/19/97, p.A26)(WSJ,
1/30/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/13/98, p.A11)(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10)(AP,
9/19/99)(AP, 1/9/04)(Reuters, 1/16/08)
1990 Foreign development aid in
Niger was $270 million for the year.
(WSJ, 5/10/02, p.A5)
1993 The first democratic
government was elected.
(WSJ, 1/29/96, p. A-1)
1996 Jan, 27 Coup leaders named
the armed forces chief president after seizing power. Ten people died,
political parties were outlawed and the constitution was suspended.
Gen’l. Ibrahim Bare Mainassara seized power.
(WSJ, 1/29/96, p. A-1)(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)
1996 Jul 8, The military ruler
suspended the Independent National electoral commission after early
results showed him losing.
(WSJ, 7/9/96, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)
1996 Jul 10, In Niger Gen’l.
Ibrahim Mainassara claimed electoral victory and immediately banned
opposition parties and public meetings.
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A10)
1997 May 10, It was reported that
recent sandstorms caused the death of some 36 people when the driver of
a truck lost his way.
(SFC, 5/10/97, p.A8)
1997 Sep 20, It was reported that
about 71,000 villagers were threatened by famine in the southwestern
areas around Oualam.
(SFC, 9/20/97, p.A19)
1997 The Famine Early Warning
Systems Network (FEWS Net) published an inquiry into the world’s
failure to respond to food shortages in Niger and the rest of the Sahel.
(Econ, 8/20/05, p.10)
1999 Feb 27, It was reported that
a mass grave containing 149 old men, women and children had been found
in eastern Niger. The victims were Toubou refugees displaced by
fighting several years ago.
(SFC, 2/27/99, p.A16)
1999 Apr 7, The Supreme Court
annulled voting results in some districts and called for a new round of
balloting, a move that was rejected by a leading opposition coalition.
(SFC, 4/10/99, p.C14)
1999 Apr 9, Pres. Ibrahim Bare
Mainassara was shot to death by his bodyguards at Niamey Airport.
(SFC, 4/10/99, p.C14)
1999 Apr 11, In Niger Daouda Malam
Wanke, head of the guard unit that witnesses said assassinated Pres.
Bare., was named president and head of the National Council for
Reconciliation, which would run for a 9 month transition period. The
Supreme Court and National Assembly were dissolved.
(SFC, 4/12/99, p.A13)
1999 Jun 13, The military junta
scheduled elections for October and November and a handover to civilian
rule before the end of the year.
(SFC, 6/14/99, p.A14)
1999 Oct 17, The 1st round of the
presidential election was held.
(WSJ, 10/18/99, p.A1)
1999 The 1st local radio station
was established for broadcast in native languages.
(WSJ, 5/10/02, p.A5)
2001 Foreign development aid was
$190 million for the year.
(WSJ, 5/10/02, p.A5)
2002 Feb, Joseph C. Wilson IV,
former US diplomat and veteran of the diplomatic wars of Iraq and
Africa, was sent on a secret mission to Niger to determine if Iraqis
had tried to purchase yellowcake uranium from Africa to build nuclear
weapons. Wilson spent a week in Niger chatting with locals about the
allegation, coming to the conclusion that the yellowcake charges were
probably unfounded. His wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA operative. In
2006 it was reported that Plame was part of an operation tracking the
proliferation of nuclear weapons material into Iran.
(WP, 7/17/05)(WSJ, 7/18/05, p.A4)(AFP, 5/2/06)
2002 Mar, Radio Afalla went on the
air.
(WSJ, 5/10/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 31, In eastern
Niger disgruntled soldiers began a mutiny in N'gourti to protest months
of unpaid salaries, seizing senior officials in the region and taking
control of a radio station.
(AP, 8/2/02)
2002 Aug 5, In Niger a military
revolt spread to the capital, with mutinous soldiers opening fire
inside three garrisons in Niamey. Prime Minister Hama Amadou said the
city was under control after hours of gunfire.
(AP, 8/5/02)
2002 Niger’s population of about
11 million was 90% Muslim.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)(WSJ, 5/10/02, p.A5)
2003 Jul 6, Joseph Wilson, former
American ambassador, criticized the Bush administration for the way it
used intelligence to justify the war in Iraq. He alleged that Pres.
Bush had falsely accused Iraq of trying to buy uranium from Niger. Two
White House officials soon called at least 6 Washington journalists and
told them that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, was an undercover CIA
agent who had worked in Niger. A State Dept. memo was soon sent to
Colin Powell on how Wilson got sent to Niger and the role of his wife.
(Econ, 8/21/04, p.28)(SFC, 7/16/05, p.A4)
2003 Niger made slavery a crime
with a penalty of up to 30 years in jail, but continued to turn a blind
eye to the practice.
(Econ, 11/1/08, p.57)
2004 May 12, The Paris Club of
creditor nations agreed to cancel all $152 million owed by Niger to the
club's 19 member countries.
(AP, 5/12/04)
2004 May, In Niger a law came into
force that threatened slave-owners with up to 30 years in jail.
Anti-Slavery Int’l. estimated 43,000 slaves in Niger.
(Econ, 3/12/05, p.49)
2004 Sep 15, Eight French speaking
African countries began retiring over 1 billion in decaying currency
with new CFA francs. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast,
Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo had until Dec 31 to turn in old bills for
new ones.
(SFC, 9/15/04, p.C8)
2004 US Special Forces began
training local troops in Mauritania and Mali under a program called the
Pan-Sahel Initiative. The program was renamed the Trans-Sahara
Counter-Terrorism Initiative and taken over by Marines, who extended
the training to Chad and Niger.
(SFC, 10/2/04, p.A8)
2005 May 8, In southeastern Niger
a swarm of locusts has descended on a town, sparking fears that the
West African nation, where millions of people face food shortages,
could endure another invasion of the crop-munching insects.
(AP, 5/9/05)
2005 Jun, The Trans-Sahara
Counter-Terrorism Initiative began operations. The US funded plan
intended to provide military equipment and development aid to 9
north-east African countries considered fertile ground for Muslim
militant groups. Participating countries included Algeria, Chad, Mali,
Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia.
(SFC, 12/27/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 19, In Niger some 3.6
million people were in need of food, among them 800,000 malnourished
children. About 150,000 could die unless food arrives quickly in the
impoverished West African nation of 13 million.
(AP, 7/19/05)
2005 Jul 21, The aid agency Oxfam
said about 3.6 million people face starvation in Niger unless the
international community responds urgently to the food crisis there.
(AP, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul, Mali officials estimated
that 4 million people faced starvation in Mali and Niger, due to
drought and locusts from the previous year. 10% of the Mali’s
population faced starvation.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.41)
2005 Aug 3, UN agencies increased
their appeals to a total of $75 million to help 2.5 million people in
desperate need of food in Niger.
(AP, 8/4/05)
2005 Aug 5, The UN appealed for
$80 million to fight a food crisis threatening the lives of hundreds of
thousands in Niger.
(AP, 8/5/05)
2006 Feb 27, A lab official said
Niger has become the second African country with confirmed cases of the
deadly H5N1 bird flu strain.
(AP, 2/27/06)
2006 Jul 6, A general strike in
Niger demanding lower prices for basic goods paralyzed the capital of
one of the world's poorest nations, following a similar attempt last
month that was met with inaction from the government.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Aug 25, In Niger the UN food
agency inaugurated a program to help feed hundreds of thousands of
people as the impoverished West African nation struggles to recover
from severe shortages.
(AP, 8/25/06)
2006 Oct 14, Two Italian tourists,
freed in Libya after being kidnapped in August in Niger, denounced
their captors as bandits and said they were mistreated during their
ordeal.
(AP, 10/14/06)
2007 Jun 22, Rebels attacked an
army base in Niger, killing 13 and wounding 30 soldiers, and taking at
least 47 prisoners.
(AP, 6/23/07)
2007 Jul 22, Niger's PM Seyni
Oumarou and military chiefs met neighboring Algeria's President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika to discuss cross-border cooperation against
Tuareg-led rebels in Niger's desert north.
(AP, 7/22/07)
2007 Aug 24, Niger’s Pres. Mamadou
Tandja declared a state of alert in response to a growing rebellion by
the Tuareg.
(Econ, 9/15/07, p.62)
2007 Sep 15, Niger was described
as the poorest country in the world. Northern Niger, rich in natural
resources, produced some 3,500 tons of uranium per year.
(Econ, 9/15/07, p.62)
2007 Sep 20, In Niger Moussa Kaka,
a reporter for Radio France International and director of a private
radio station that has reported heavily on the Tuareg rebellion, was
taken into custody for "conniving with the enemy" in his conversations
with members of the Tuareg rebel group, the Niger Movement for Justice.
(AP, 9/22/07)
2007 Oct 25,
Niger's Tuareg-led rebels allegedly killed at least 12 soldiers and
destroyed two army vehicles in the desert north of the central African
country, but the military denied this.
(Reuters, 10/27/07)
2008 Jan 16, Niger authorities
formally charged two French journalists with threatening state security
for attempting to report on rebel groups in Niger's volatile north, a
crime punishable by death in the West African country.
(AP, 1/16/08)
2008 Mar 16, Tuareg rebels (MNJ)
in Niger killed a police officer and a republican guard in an attack
200 kilometers north of the capital Niamey.
(AFP, 3/18/08)
2008 Apr 30, In Niger a summit of
nine west African states convened in Niamey to consider a proposed
20-year, 5.5 billion euro (8.6 billion dollar) program to rescue the
Niger River from extinction and guarantee the future of 110 million
people.
(AFP, 4/30/08)
2008 Jun 21, Four French
nationals, all Niger-based employees of the nuclear company Areva, were
abducted by rebels from the Movement for Justice in a part of Niger
known for its uranium mines. They were freed on June 25.
(AP, 6/25/08)
2008 Jun 27, Niger government
troops clashed with ethnic Tuareg rebels, leaving at least 17 people
dead.
(AP, 6/27/08)
2008 Aug 18, Niger's Tuareg rebel
leader Aghaly ag Alambo said his fighters would lay down their guns
and, together with neighboring Mali's Tuareg rebellion, submit to
mediation by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
(AP, 8/19/08)
2008 Aug 24, In Niger dozens of
land mines accidentally exploded during a ceremony in which a group of
former rebels were handing over arms, killing one person and wounding
about 40 including the regional governor.
(AP, 8/24/08)
2008 Oct 27, A West African court
ordered Niger to pay compensation to Hadijatou Mani (24), who was sold
into slavery at age 12 and held for a decade. She had been forced to
work as a domestic servant and a sexual slave until 2005.
(SFC, 10/28/08, p.A4)
2008 Dec 2, In Nigeria authorities
in central Plateau state announced the arrest of 16 alleged
"mercenaries" from neighbouring Niger. Isa Ibrahim, the Nigerien
Ambassador to Nigeria, said that those arrested had been living in Jos
for several years as water vendors.
(AFP, 12/2/08)
2008 Dec 14, On the Niger-Mali
border Tuareg rebels of the Front for the Forces of Redress (FFR)
kidnapped Robert Fowler, a Canadian UN special envoy, and Louis Guay, a
Canadian diplomat, along with their local driver. Days later the FFR
made contradictory statements both claiming and condemning
responsibility. On March, 2009, rebels released the driver. The
Canadian diplomats were released in April, 2009.
(AP, 12/16/08)(http://tinyurl.com/djsmd7)(AP,
4/23/09)
2009 Jan, Four tourists, two
Swiss, a German and a Briton, were kidnapped on the Mali-Niger border.
A Swiss and a German tourist were released in April.
(AP, 4/23/09)
2009 Feb 6, Nigeria’s government
reported that 84 infants and children have died after swallowing My
Pikin Baby Teething Mixture, a teething syrup laced with diethylene
glycol. A failed bid to smuggle a bus filled with rice into Nigeria
from Niger left seven people dead including two customs officers set
ablaze with petrol.
(SFC, 2/7/09, p.A2)(AFP, 2/8/09)
2009 Feb 27, The UN Children's
Fund said 53 million children are being targeted by a mass immunization
drive against polio in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger,
Nigeria, and Togo. Some 844 polio cases were reported in the 8
countries in 2008, 95% of them in Nigeria.
(AFP, 2/27/09)
2009 Mar 27, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy wrapped up his mini-tour of three African countries,
after meeting with Niger leader Mamadou Tandja. This followed visits to
Kinshasa and Brazzaville.
(AFP, 3/27/09)
2009 Apr 9, A Niger government
minister said Tuareg rebels have agreed to lay down their arms and join
a peace process in the desert West African nation.
(AP, 4/9/09)
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