The sense of history requires that Burkina, Niger and Mali quickly constitute a federation’, Me Kyelem

The Prime Minister, Dr Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélem de Tambèla received in audience, this Saturday, October 7, 2023 in Ouagadougou, his counterpart from Niger, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine. This meeting allowed the two personalities to discuss subjects of common interest.

The Nigerien delegation came to convey the warm greetings and thanks of their President, General Abdourahamane Tchiani to the Burkinabè people who supported them in the face of the various sanctions taken by ECOWAS against Niger.

‘We were dispatched by the Nigerien Head of State, General Abdourahamane Tchiani to come and translate the expression of our deep brotherhood and friendship with Burkina Faso,’ declared the Nigerien Head of Government as he left the audience. And to continue that with ‘the pooling of our energies and our means, this should allow us to move forward and ensure that the populations who are severely damaged can find peace’.

According to him, a tripartite commission must be set up in order to face the common enemy and
the terrorist hydra. ‘We talked about the need to see each other more often to discuss all the aspects that interest our populations, whether economically, security or culturally,’ noted the Nigerien Prime Minister.

On the defense front, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine announces that the two States have resumed joint operations while noting that in terms of hydrocarbons, a commission has been set up to facilitate Burkina-Niger cooperation.

For his part, the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Dr Apollinaire Kyélem de Tambèla, informed his counterpart from Niger that: ‘when we are afraid of dying, we do not engage in the fight we are waging’.

This audience also allowed Dr Kyélem de Tambèla to recall the need for the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States which includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. ‘This ordeal made us understand that, in isolation, we are nothing compared to our adversaries. We need to get together. Together, we can do many things, but in isolation, we can come and hit one, then we hit the other. W
e must stop our personal selfishness, our micro nationalisms and try to see bigger,’ he insisted.

In this regard, the Head of the Burkinabè Government recalled an article that he wrote in 2003 discussing the idea of the creation of the federation of Sahel States which he hoped for, again, in February 2023, in Mali. At the beginning of the said article, it is written: ‘for a Sahel federation in West Africa, the economically poorest countries are, without doubt, the landlocked Sahel countries. They therefore have something in common, if only poverty which is only the consequence of an absence of political vision between these countries which are Mali, Burkina and Niger…’.

And, he then continues that the grouping of these three countries will have certain advantages, the economy which is the foundation of all social evolution in today’s world could experience a new start. Thus, he notes, the sense of history requires that Burkina, Mali and Niger quickly constitute a federation. He finished by indicating that a
t the beginning of the colonial era, in 1904, together they already formed the colony of Haut-Sénégal-Niger.

Furthermore, Dr Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélem from Tambèla invited his counterpart from Niger ‘to hold on’ because there will be pitfalls in the dynamic of reconquest of the territory and sovereignty of Niger.

Source: Burkina Information Agency