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DECOLONIZATION BY REFERENDUM: THE ANOMALY OF NIGER AND THE FALL OF SAWABA, 1958–1959*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2009

KLAAS VAN WALRAVEN
KLAAS VAN WALRAVEN
Affiliation:
African Studies Centre, Leiden
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Abstract

This article deals with the 1958 referendum that the French held in Niger to gain approval for the Fifth Republic and reorganization of their empire. It reassesses the French record in Niger, where more people voted ‘No’ – in favour of immediate independence – than in other territories, except Guinea. It does this on the basis of research on the history of the Sawaba movement, which led Niger's autonomous government until the plebisicite. It shows that the French forcibly intervened in the referendum to realize a ‘Yes’ vote and preserve Niger for their sphere of influence after independence in 1960. In detailing the violence and manipulation of the referendum and its aftermath, the article criticizes a revisionist viewpoint which disputed the significance of French intervention. The analysis draws on research on the Sawaba movement, benefiting from insights of social history into the grassroots forces in the nationalist movements of the 1950s. It discusses the historiography of Niger's referendum in relation to new archival sources and memoirs, drawing parallels with other territories, notably Guinea. It concludes that France's interventions in 1958 are crucial for understanding the long-term consequences of the transformations of the independence era.

Keywords

West AfricaNigerdecolonizationhistoriography
Type
Colonial Conservation Measures
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , July 2009 , pp. 269 - 292
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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References

1 See, for academic analyses, E. Mortimer, France and the Africans 1944–1960: A Political History (London, 1969), 303–25; F. Ansprenger, Politik im schwarzen Afrika: die modernen politischen Bewegungen im Afrika französischer Prägung (Cologne, 1961), 261–84; G. Dugué, Vers les états-unis d'Afrique (Dakar, 1960), part II.

2 For the metropolitan background, see P. Viansson-Ponté, Histoire de la république gaullienne: mai 1958 – avril 1969 (Paris, 1971), and M. Agulhon, De Gaulle: histoire, symbole, mythe (Paris, 2000).

3 Mortimer, France and the Africans, 303–25, and J. R. de Benoist, l'Afrique Occidentale Française de la conférence de Brazzaville (1944) à l'indépendance (1960) (Paris, 1982), 409–33.

4 T. Chafer, The End of Empire in French West Africa: France's Successful Decolonization? (Oxford, 2002), 9 and 20. Frederick Cooper argues for another phasing of Africa's history since 1940, with a break around the mid-1970s. F. Cooper, Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present (Cambridge, 2002), 85ff. See also his ‘Possibility and constraint: African independence in historical perspective’, Journal of African History, 49 (2008), 167–96.

5 E. Schmidt, Mobilizing the Masses: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in the Nationalist Movement in Guinea, 1939–1958 (Portsmouth NH, 2005); Schmidt, ‘Cold war in Guinea: the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain and the struggle over Communism, 1950–1958’, Journal of African History, 48 (2007), 1, 95–121, and Schmidt, Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea, 1946–1958 (Athens OH, 2007).

6 Schmidt, Mobilizing the Masses, 2–10.

7 Suret-Canale, J., ‘La fin de la chefferie en Guinée’, Journal of African History, 7 (1966), 3, 459–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

8 Chafer, The End of Empire.

9 O. Sembene, L'Harmattan: référendum (Paris, 1980 [1st ed., 1964]), ch. 19, and A. A. Dicko, Journal d'une défaite autour du référendum du 28 septembre 1958 en Afrique Noire (posthumously published with preface by Joseph Ki-Zerbo, who in 1958 was a student activist before becoming a celebrated historian) (Paris, 1992); English translation as ‘Diary of a defeat: concerning the referendum of 28th September 1958 in Black Africa’, Development Dialogue, 2 (1989), 133–76.

10 Dicko, Journal d'une défaite, and Sembene, L'Harmattan, 286 and 290.

11 Benoist, L'Afrique Occidentale Française, 516.

12 Fuglestad, F., ‘Djibo Bakary, the French, and the Referendum of 1958 in Niger’, Journal of African History, 14 (1973), 313–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 Schmidt, Mobilizing the Masses, 2–4, and S. Geiger, TANU Women: Gender and Culture in the Making of Tanganyikan Nationalism, 1955–1965 (Portsmouth NH, 1997).

14 For the latter I conducted around sixty interviews with Sawabists and others across Niger (2002–8) in addition to researching the Archives Nationales du Niger, notably series 86 MI D to 3 F and FONDS DAPA; sources from Niger's Gendarmerie Nationale; France's Archives Nationales – Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre (notably files from series 5 H and 10 T) and the Centre des archives d'outre-mer (hereinafter CAOM); Ghana National Archives (different files); and Public Record Office (now the National Archives), London (different series under FO 371, DO 177 and 186) – for a projected monograph, ‘The yearning for relief: a history of the Sawaba rebellion in Niger 1954–1974’.

15 See R. Schachter-Morgenthau, Political Parties in French-Speaking West Africa (Oxford, 1964), 301–29; Mortimer, France and the Africans, 303–25; Benoist, L'Afrique Occidentale Française.

16 C. Fluchard, Le PPN–RDA et la décolonisation du Niger 1946–1960 (Paris, 1995), 96–113.

17 M. Crowder, ‘Independence as a goal in French West African politics: 1944–1960’, in W. H. Lewis (ed.), French-speaking Africa: The Search for Identity (New York, 1965), 31–3.

18 Viansson-Ponté, Histoire de la république gaullienne, 37–51.

19 Dicko, Journal d'une défaite, xviii (‘Il s'agissait d'une défaite pressentie’).

20 Mortimer, France and the Africans, 311.

21 Haut Commissariat de la République en AOF, Synthèse politique, no. 085 CP/BE, juillet–aoÛt 1958, le 5 septembre 1958; CAOM, Cart.3684; declaration of Djibo Bakary, undated but 9 Aug. 1958, CAOM, Cart.2181/D.1 bis.

22 According to the French, of 1,320,174 registered voters, 477,226 validly cast their ballot, of which 372,383 were for ‘Yes’ and 102,395 for ‘No’. Consultation du Peuple français par voie de référendum (28 septembre 1958): procès-verbal du recensement des votes émis dans les collèges électoraux du territoire du Niger; Niamey, 2 octobre 1958; CAOM, Cart.2187/D.3.

23 Arrêté no. 0574/CAB du 19 septembre 1958 du Chef du Territoire du Niger; CAOM, Cart.2211/D.1.

24 Parti Sawaba, Pour l'indépendance effective du Niger: les raisons de notre lutte (Bureau du Parti Sawaba: Bamako, 15 Jan. 1961). Absent from Niger's national archives, a copy was obtained from a private source by courtesy of Sao Marakan, Niamey, 16 Nov. 2002.

25 Ibid. 33–9.

26 Georges Chafford, Les carnets secrets de la décolonisation (Paris, 1967), II, 269–332. While Chaffard did not cite his sources, he must have used Sawaba testimonies and documents of the PPN–RDA government then in power.

27 Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 324–30.

28 Fluchard, Le PPN–RDA, 256–7.

29 M. Djibo, Les transformations politiques au Niger à la veille de l'indépendance (Paris, 2001). Also see Djibo ‘Les enjeux politiques dans la colonie du Niger (1944–1960)’, Autrepart, 27 (2003), 41–60.

30 P. Messmer, Après tant de batailles: mémoires (Paris, 1992); Foccart parle. vol. I: Entretiens avec Philippe Gaillard (Paris, 1995); P. Messmer, Les blancs s'en vont: récits de décolonisation (Paris, 1998).

31 R. Salan, Mémoires, vol. IV: Fin d'un empire. L'Algérie, de Gaulle et moi. 7 juin 1958–10 juin 1960 (Paris, 1974), 116–17. Fuglestad's A History of Niger 1850–1960 (Cambridge, 1983) also missed Salan's memoirs.

32 Declaration of Djibo Bakary, undated but 9 Aug. 1958; CAOM, Cart.2181/D.1 bis; and Mortimer, France and the Africans, 307.

33 Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 325.

34 Ibid. 322–5.

35 Ibid. 327–9. For a comparison of registered voters and turnouts across AOF, Benoist, L'Afrique Occidentale Française, 516.

36 Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 329–30.

37 Ibid. 325 and 330.

38 Crowder, ‘Independence as a goal’, 33, and Mortimer, France and the Africans, 311–12.

39 Chef du Territoire du Niger à Monsieur le Ministre de la FOM, Paris, et M. Le Haut-Commissaire de la République en AOF, Dakar, 9 Aug. 1958; CAOM, Cart.2181/D.1 bis; Fuglestad, History of Niger, 187.

40 Interviews with Saïbou Abdouramane, peasant, Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005; Djaouga Idrissa, peasant, near Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005; Boubakar Djingaré, mason, Niamey, 27 Oct. 2005.

41 As Djibo, Les transformations, 77 n. 2 and 85, noted for the urban elite.

42 Rollet to France Outre-Mer and Dakar, 9 Aug. 1958; Recueil des principaux renseignements reçus par le Bureau d'Etudes de l'AOF pour la période du 18 au 31 aoÛt 1958, ex. no. 3; Haut Commissariat de la République en AOF. Synthèse politique, no. 085 CP/BE, juillet–aoÛt 1958, le 5 septembre 1958 – CAOM, Cart.2248 and 2233/D.2.

43 Djibo, Les transformations, 77; Mortimer, France and the Africans, 311; interview with Ali Amadou, Niamey, 28 Jan. 2003. Contrary, therefore, to what Fuglestad argued, Nigériens did not have to be ‘law students’ to make up their mind. Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 323.

44 A party that could only rise to prominence by administrative benevolence, due to being poorly rooted socially. F. Fuglestad, ‘UNIS and BNA: the rôle of “traditionalist” parties in Niger, 1948–1960’, in Journal of African History, 16 (1975), 113–115 and 133.

45 Among its founders were a bar-tender, bookkeeper, veterinary nurse, two master masons, a baker, a telephone and telegraph operator, an assistant interpreter, a veterinary assistant. A. Mayaki, Les partis politiques nigériens de 1946 à 1958: documents et témoignages (Niamey, 1991), 57.

46 Recruiters of clients for public transport.

47 As Fuglestad, History of Niger, 181, duly noted.

48 Like schoolteachers, although the majority of these voted RDA. K. Idrissa, ‘La dynamique de la gouvernance: administration, politique et ethnicité au Niger’, in K. Idrissa (ed.), Le Niger: état et démocratie (Paris, 2001), 47; Djibo, Les transformations, 54.

49 Involving socioeconomic changes to the detriment of the chiefly class, the ‘évolués’ and French interests, but benefiting lower-placed categories. Parti Sawaba, Pour un front démocratique de la patrie (Niamey, 1962), 10–20. Also Union Démocratique Nigérienne: Lettre Ouverte aux Nigériens, Paris, 30 Apr. 1954 (text Fluchard, Le PPN–RDA, 374ff.).

50 ‘Northern Elements Progressive Union’. See A. Abba (ed.), The Politics of Mallam Aminu Kano: Documents from the Independence Struggle 1950–1960 (Kaduna, 1993).

51 Online Bargery's Hausa–English Dictionary (www.koshigaya.bunkyo.ac.jp/hslaiman/), accessed 10 Oct. 2006; Djibo, Les transformations, 54; Djibo, ‘Les enjeux politiques’, 52.

52 At the party congress after Sawaba's 1957 election victory, the one in early Apr. 1958, May 1958, and that of late Aug. 1958. See Rapport moral présenté par le secrétaire général du mouvement socialiste africain (MSA), n.d., (text in A. Talba, Une contribution à l'étude des partis politiqes nigériens: le témoignage de Adamou Mayaki (Bordeaux, 1984); Synthèse des événements politiques qui ont précédé au Niger l'élection du conseil du Gouvernement. Très confidentiel; Territoire du Niger: Synthèse politique. avril–mai–juin 1958. Secret; Congrès constitutif de la section nigérienne du PRA: Rapport de politique générale, 29–31 aoÛt 1958 – CAOM, Cart.2187/D.7, 2233/D.2 and 2181/D.1 bis.

53 As Fuglestad observed for the links with the unions. ‘Djibo Bakary’, 323. Djibo (Les transformations), providing an excellent analysis of the politics of the 1950s, overlooked this factor.

54 As he showed at the party's victory conference in the spring of 1957, and at Cotonou, July 1958.

55 See Bakary's autobiography, Silence! On décolonise!: itinéraire politique et syndical d'un militant africain (Paris, 1992), 212–13.

56 See Crowder, ‘Independence as a goal’, 35.

57 Declaration of Djibo Bakary, undated but 9 Aug. 1958, CAOM, Cart.2181/D.1 bis; Crowder, ‘Independence as a goal’, 35–6 (‘à l'heure des Spoutniks’).

58 Bulletin Trimestriel de Renseignements. Extérieurs. Deuxième Fascicule. 1. Partie. Afrique Occidentale Britannique et Libéria. Sources: SDECE. Presse. Secret. Exemplaire no. 11/65, n.d.; c. July–Oct. 1958; Recueil des principaux renseignements reçus par le Bureau d'Etudes de l'AOF pour la période du 14 au 31 octobre 1958, no. 9, and 9 au 15 novembre, no. 11 – CAOM, Cart.2195/D.7 and 2248.

59 See, for example, the speech of party ideologue Adamou Sékou in late Aug.: Congrès constitutif de la section nigérienne du PRA: Rapport de politique générale, 29–31 aoÛt 1958.

60 Haut Commissariat de la République en AOF, Synthèse politique, no. 085 CP/BE, juillet–aoÛt 1958, le 5 septembre 1958. Also Parti Sawaba, Pour un front démocratique, 45. The revisionist thesis is incongruous since, if Sawaba's stance was inspired by Bakary's amoral drive for power, the party would have been better siding with France to gain the fruits of its benevolence. De Gaulle would have promised Bakary assistance. Djibo, Les transformations, 97 (based on interviews with Bakary); Bakary, Silence! 195–6 and 211; Parti Sawaba, Pour l'indépendance, 31.

61 The RDA was seen as the loser of these battles. Never studied in detail, see, for an analysis, K. van Walraven, ‘Vehicle of sedition: the role of transport workers in Sawaba's rebellion in Niger (1954–1967)’, in J. Gewald, S. Luning and K. van Walraven (eds.), The Speed of Change: Motor Vehicles and People in Africa, 1890–2000 (Leiden, 2009), 75–103.

62 Territoire du Niger, Synthèse politique. avril–mai–juin 1958; Chef du Territoire du Niger à Monsieur le Ministre de la FOM, Paris, et M. Le Haut-Commissaire de la République en AOF, Dakar, 9 Aug. 1958; Direction des Services de Sécurité de l'AOF. Secret. Bulletin d'Information du 1er juillet au 15 aoÛt 1958; Haut Commissariat de la République en AOF. Synthèse politique, no. 085 CP/BE, juillet–aoÛt 1958, le 5 septembre 1958 – last three sources CAOM, Cart.2181/D.1 bis, 2248, 2233/D.2.

63 For French accusations to this effect, unsubstantiated by evidence, Rapport sur les opérations électorales concernant le scrutin du 28 septembre (Référendum), n.d., attached to Rapport sur le Référendum du 28 septembre 1958 en Afrique Occidentale Française (Haut Commissariat de la République en Afrique Occidentale Française – Le Conseiller Politique), Dakar, 25/10/58 – CAOM, Cart.2221/D.1. The lack of evidence confirms the adamant denials of Bakary and his interior minister on this matter. Djibo, Les transformations, 65.

64 Djibo, Les transformations, 64–5. The important chief was the Sarkin Katsina of Maradi, Bouzou Dan Zambadi. Territoire du Niger. Synthèse politique. avril–mai–juin 1958. One was dismissed for administrative reasons. Fluchard (Le PPN–RDA, 252) alleged several chiefs were placed under house arrest and were ordered to present themselves daily at the interior ministry, but gives no other source than Fuglestad's article, which itself gives no source, to substantiate this.

65 Arguments that such use was illegal were therefore besides the point. Interview with Tahirou Ayouba Maïga, Niamey, 28 Oct. 2005; Djibo, Les transformations, 90; Fluchard, Le PPN–RDA, 255–6.

66 Djibo, Les transformations, 89–90. That last requirement was certainly not fulfilled.

67 Including control of electoral and political affairs, security matters and budget expenditure. See next note.

68 Those of public works and economic affairs. Bakary lost the high direction of internal affairs, allocations, subsidies; the interior minister: political and administrative affairs, elections, judicial matters, police, paramilitary forces; the finance minister: control of accounts, audits, civil service salaries, budget expenditure; the civil service minister: administration and personnel matters. Arrêté no. 0574/CAB du 19 septembre 1958 du Chef du Territoire du Niger.

69 As the riots orchestrated by the Sawaba government in April 1958 pinpointed. Van Walraven, ‘Vehicle of sedition’.

70 Viansson-Ponté, Histoire de la république gaullienne.

71 Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 326.

72 See, on the Algerian factor, van Walraven, K., ‘From Tamanrasset: the struggle of Sawaba and the Algerian connection (1957–1966)’, Journal of North African Studies, 10 (2005), 3–4, 507–27.Google Scholar For the OCRS, A. Bourgeot, ‘Sahara: espace géostratégique et enjeux politiques (Niger)’, Autrepart, 16 (2000), 21–48. On Nigeria, Bulletin Trimestriel de Renseignements. Extérieurs. Deuxième Fascicule. 1. Partie. Afrique Occidentale Britannique et Libéria. Sources: SDECE. Presse. Secret. Exemplaire no. 11/65, n. d. c. July–Oct. 1958, and 94 Niger. 944 Etats Indépendants d'Afrique. Origine: SDECE – CAOM, Cart.2195/D.7 and 2197/D.10.

73 Rapport sur les opérations électorales (‘peu intelligents, avides et surexcités’).

74 Ibid.; Foccart parle, 170–1 (‘histoire électorale corse’; ‘Bakary était l'adversaire’); Messmer, Après tant de batailles, 239–40, 243 (‘démolir’); Bulletin de Renseignements Hebd. – 6 au 13 octobre 1958. no. 3193/GCS/AOF/2. Commandement supérieur des forces armés de la zone de défense AOF–Togo. Etat-Major – 2ème bureau; CAOM, Cart.2195/D.7 (‘l'attitude énergique’); Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 326.

75 Like Amadou Issaka of Kantché. Another chief arrived at Colombani's palace with a ‘No’ poster pasted on his car only to depart the premises with a ‘Yes’ poster in exchange! R. B. Charlick, Niger: Personal Rule and Survival in the Sahel (Boulder, 1991), 50; Djibo, Les transformations, 90.

76 Chiefs in the western river valley, among others, remained loyal. Interviews with Ibrahim Bawa Souley, Niamey, 26 Nov. 2003; Tahirou Ayouba Maïga, Niamey, 28 Oct. 2005; Mamane Boureïma, Banjo, 4 Nov. 2005; Djaouga Idrissa, near Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005; Abdou Ali Tazard, Tessaoua, and Katiella Ari Gaptia, Bosso, Lake Chad, 9 and 13 Feb. 2006 respectively; Recueil des principaux renseignements reçus par le Bureau d'Etudes pour la période du 25 juin au 1 juillet 1959, no. 36; secret – CAOM, Cart.2249.

77 Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 326; Djibo, Les transformations, 65, 90, 93–4 and 108.

78 Djibo, Les transformations, 95. Old Francs.

79 Salan, Mémoires, 117 (‘gros moyens’; ‘renverser la situation en faveur du “oui”’). Salan's involvement is confirmed in Message 5.674/CHI GENESUPER Dakar à IFTOM Paris. Secret & Urgent, 18 septembre 1958, CAOM, Cart.2195/D.1. See also Van Walraven, ‘From Tamanrasset’.

80 Djibo, Les transformations, 94.

81 Message 5.674/CHI GENESUPER Dakar à IFTOM Paris. Secret & Urgent, 18 septembre 1958. The presence of Algerian troops was confirmed in interviews, such as with Georges Condat (Djibo, Les transformations, 93) and El Hadj Limane Kaoumi (with author, Diffa, 12 Feb. 2006).

82 Djibo, Les transformations, 92–3, based on an interview with Sawabist Gonimi Boukar.

83 Interviews with Tahirou Ayouba Maïga, Niamey, 28 Oct. 2005 and Ousseini Dandagoye, Zinder, 11 Feb. 2003.

84 Interviews with El Hadj Limane Kaoumi, Diffa, 12 Feb. 2006; Georges Condat, Niamey, 27 Nov. 2003; Elhadj Illa Salifou, Niamey, 25 Nov. 2003; Kaîro Alfari, Niamey, 30 Oct. 2005; Tahirou Ayouba Maïga, Niamey, 28 Oct. 2005; Gonimi Boukar, Niamey, 5 Nov. 2005; Mamoudou Béchir, Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005; and Djaouga Idrissa, vicinity of Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005. Some of these were illiterate peasants. Two spoke independently about helicopters. Interviews with Saïbou Abdouramane, Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005 and Mamane Boureïma, Banjo, 4 Nov. 2005. The argument that the French had two aircraft and could not have used them was based on the testimony of RDA leader Diori. Fluchard, Le PPN–RDA, 257 n. 1.

85 Interview with Tahirou Ayouba Maïga, Niamey, 28 Oct. 2005 and confirmed by Mamoudou Béchir, Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005 and Mamane Boureïma, Banjo, 4 Nov. 2005.

86 Djibo, Les transformations; and interviews with Mamoudou Béchir, Dargol and Djaouga Idrissa, vicinity Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005.

87 He was questioned over his decision to vote ‘No’. Interview with Georges Condat, Niamey, 27 Nov. 2003; Djibo, Les transformations, 91–2.

88 In his case until well after the referendum. Interviews with Maman Tchila, Zinder, 9 Feb. 2003 and Ousmane Dan Galadima, Madaoua, 7 Feb. 2003.

89 Tahoua's commandant de cercle would have ordered Sawabists to fight for ‘Yes’ and have them loaded into lorries to let them repeat their new commitment in front of villagers. Administrators by the name of Bonfils, Carreau and Prudon were also accused of intimidation. Chaffard, Les carnets secrets, 289–90; Parti de regroupement africain, Conférence de presse, 19 Nov. 1958; CAOM, Cart.2257/D.4; Rapport sur les opérations électorales; Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 327.

90 Its leaders still had some vehicles at their disposal, possibly through Ghanaian funding.

91 Interview with Ousseini Dandagoye, Zinder, 11 Feb. 2003. He slept in the market, on the village perimeter. This confirms interviews by Djibo, Les transformations, 93. Also Parti Sawaba, Pour l'indépendance, 36–8.

92 Djibo, Les transformations, 103ff.; Rapport sur les opérations électorales; Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 327.

93 There were also incidents in Tessaoua. Seeda: Mensuel Nigérien d'Informations Générales, 5 (Aug. 2002); interview with Georges Condat, Niamey, 27 Nov. 2003.

94 Djibo, Les transformations, 92–3; interviews with Mamoudou Béchir, Dargol and Djaouga Idrissa, vicinity of Dargol, 31 Oct. 2005; Mamane Boureïma and Djibo Foulan, Banjo, 4 Nov. 2005.

95 This was not the important period of groundnut sales. Djibo, Les transformations, 121, 164; Rapport sur les opérations électorales. The 372,383 votes allegedly expressed for ‘Yes’ barely represented 28 per cent of what the French claimed was the registered electorate. Fuglestad attributed low turnouts to the fact that Muslim women rarely voted. ‘Djibo Bakary’, 328–9.

96 Les transformations, 121–31.

97 Rapport sur les opérations électorales (‘proportions étonnantes’). Registered voters there were two-thirds and 50 per cent of the population! Turnouts in Agadez–Tahoua may have been pushed up by (government-controlled) chiefs voting on behalf of the community, as was sometimes done, and, in the referendum, happened in Upper Volta: Dicko, Journal d'une défaite, 70. There is no hard evidence to this effect for Niger. The figures for Tahoua were in any case disproportionate compared to elsewhere, but also to earlier polls, contradicting dispersion of habitats and the southward trek to fresh pastureland, salt and water sources. Consultation du Peuple français par voie de référendum; Djibo, Les transformations.

98 Turnout was 224,000, compared to 116,000 in 1957 – of whom 176,000 voted ‘Yes’. The six cercles were Gouré, Madaoua, Maradi, Zinder, in addition to Agadez and Tahoua. Djibo, Les transformations.

99 These gained 42,000 more registered voters than in 1957, nearly all of whom would have voted. Ibid.

100 The cercles of Birni N'Konni, Magaria, N'Guigmi, Téra, Tessaoua.

101 Ibid. 117.

102 Beyond attributing this to intervention by the chiefs.

103 The interviews of Mamadou Djibo – including with former RDA cadres – and mine are consistent on this point.

104 The ‘No’ victory in N'Guigmi was due to the fact that the French had wrongly gambled on the defection to the ‘Yes’ camp of a politician who did not carry local weight.

105 A. Garrigou, Le vote et la vertu: comment les Français sont devenus électeurs (Paris, 1992), and J. P. Charnay, Les scrutins politiques en France de 1815 à 1962 (Paris, 1964).

106 Telegram, Messmer to France Outre-Mer, nos. 784–5. Confidentiel, 29 Sept. 1958 – CAOM, Cart.2181/D.1 bis (‘ne peut plus demeurer en fonctions’).

107 Djibo, Les transformations, 137. Also Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 329.

108 The trumped-up charges against Bakary's ministers were pursued to the point of judicial persecution. Communiqué Sawaba MPs, 6 Oct. 1958 (text in Parti Sawaba, Pour l'indépendance, 41); Parti de regroupement africain, Conférence de presse, 19 Nov. 1958; interviews with Georges Condat, Niamey, 27 Nov. 2003 and Katiella Aro Gapta, Bosso (Lake Chad), 13 Feb. 2006; Messmer to France Outre-Mer, nos. 854–5, 25 Oct. 1958. Secret. Urgent – CAOM, Cart. 2181/D.1 bis.

109 Messmer, Après tant de batailles, 243; Parti de regroupement africain, Conférence de presse, 19 Nov. 1958; Djibo, Les transformations, 134–6. The accord was apparently not put down on paper.

110 Contrary to what Fuglestad contended, Colombani noted that Sawaba still commanded sufficient parliamentary support to claim the cabinet leadership. Chef du Territoire du Niger à Monsieur le Ministre de la FOM, Paris, et M. Le Haut-Commissaire de la République en AOF, Dakar, 27 Oct. 1958 – CAOM, Cart.2181/D.1 bis.

111 Messmer, Après tant de batailles, 243; Djibo, Les transformations, 141; Chef du Territoire du Niger à Monsieur le Ministre de la FOM, Paris, et M. Le Haut-Commissaire de la République en AOF, Dakar, 27 Oct. 1958.

112 Illiterate MPs would have signed resignation papers inserted in bundles of indemnity payment forms. Many notices had a suspicious side, as they were drawn up in identical form. Djibo, Les transformations, 139–44; Fluchard, Le PPN–RDA, 264–5; Chaffard, Les carnets secrets, 296–7; Parti de regroupement africain, Conférence de presse, 19 Nov. 1958; Senghor press conference, 16 Dec. 1958 (text in Bakary, Silence! 215–20).

113 On the pretext of Condat's absence, which he denied. The vice-presidents were also not warned.

114 Djibo, Les transformations, 141–4. Fuglestad, History of Niger, 186, noted Colombani's ‘rather murky transactions’.

115 Direction du Contrôle, Mission Pinassaud; CAOM, Cart.1040 (hereinafter Mission Pinassaud).

116 As an ambiguous telegram of Colombani showed. See telegram. Chef du Territoire to all Cercles and Subdivisions, 27 Nov. 1958; Mission Pinassaud.

117 This remark caused great unrest in Sawaba circles. Fluchard, Le PPN–RDA, 266; Dugué, Vers les états-unis d'Afrique, 155–6 (‘avec une vigilance particulière’).

118 Maïga Abdoulaye, Bureau Politique Sawaba, to Chef du Territoire, letter 8 Dec. 1958; Fiche de renseignements, source: E, valeur A/1, origine Maradi, n.d.; telegrams: Cercle Madaoua to Chef du Territoire, 10 Dec. 1958; Chef du Territoire to Cercle Madaoua, 11 Dec. 1958; Cercle Zinder to Chef du Territoire, 7 Dec. 1958; Mission Pinassaud.

119 Chef du Territoire to France Outre-Mer, 9 Dec. 1958, Mission Pinassaud; Djibo, Les transformations, 156.

120 See various telegrams, messages, communications, Mission Pinassaud.

121 These admitted that canvassing took place ‘under the sign of brutality’ (‘sous le signe de la brutalité’) but blamed most incidents on Sawaba and brushed aside others as simple infractions of ‘rascals’ (‘garnements’). See next note.

122 Mission Pinassaud; Le Chef du Territoire du Niger, Officier de la Légion d'Honneur, au Ministre de la France d'Outre-Mer, 23 Décembre 1958, with accounts of grave incidents in Madarounfa, Tibiri and Dan Kori; CAOM, Cart.2189/D.12.

123 Neither the low turnout nor the candidature of Diori, alien to the region, could compensate for this, and it turned into a humiliating defeat for a man destined to become Niger's new leader.

124 Telegram Chef du Territoire to Cercle Tessaoua, n.d. but Dec. 1958; Mission Pinassaud; and Djibo, Les transformations, 167–8.

125 Fuglestad, ‘Djibo Bakary’, 313 n. 3.

126 Interview with Tahir Moustapha, Sawaba supporter, Zinder, 10 Feb. 2003.

127 The treatment of Sawabists under the military regime is also dealt with in van Walraven, ‘The yearning for relief’ (in progress). See n. 14.

128 This takes issue with Cooper's contention that the campaign was ‘open’. Africa since 1940, 79.

129 Chafer, The End of Empire.

130 Cooper, Africa since 1940, 87.

131 Foccart parle, 223: ‘Two years? It seemed centuries ago!’ (‘Deux ans? Cela paraissait des siècles!’).

132 R. A. Joseph, Radical Nationalism in Cameroun: Social Origins of the U.P.C. Rebellion (Oxford, 1977); J. Tronchon, L'insurrection malgache de 1947: essai d'interprétation historique (Paris, 1986); and, for one recent publication on Mau Mau, C. Elkins, Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya (London, 2005).

133 The story of France's abandonment, leading to destruction of equipment and infrastructure, is infamous. See C. Rivière, Guinea: The Mobilization of a People (Ithaca NY, 1977), 83; Messmer, Les blancs s'en vont, 215–16.

134 Schmidt, Mobilizing the Masses, and Geiger, TANU Women.

135 Fuglestad had to rely on a limited number of French archival sources, skewing his picture of the referendum in favour of a metropolitan perspective. In his History of Niger, 16, he noted that, had more interviews with Sawabists been possible, another picture might have emerged.

136 Ibid. 10.

137 As also argued by Schmidt, Mobilizing the Masses.

138 Djibo, Les transformations, 271 and V. Thompson, ‘Niger’, in G. M. Carter (ed.), National Unity and Regionalism in Eight African States (New York, 1966), 153.