Hamani Diori - First President

First President

During his presidency, Diori's government favored the maintenance of traditional social structures and the retention of close economic ties with France. From the early 1960s, the government ruled through a small number of pre-independence figures who sat on the PPN Politburo and largely bypassed even the cabinet. As well as holding the posts of Head of State, Head of Government, and Head of the ruling party, Diori directly led a number of Ministries. From 1960 to 1963 he was Minister of Defense of Niger and Foreign Minister of Niger, and again took over the Foreign Ministry from 1965 to 1967. Most prominent, and perhaps most powerful, was writer and President of the National Assembly of Niger, Boubou Hama, who one writer has called the "eminence grise" behind Diori's rule. The National Assembly of Niger met in largely ceremonial yearly sittings to ratify government positions. Traditional notables, elected as parliamentary representatives, often unanimously endorsed government proposals. Diori was re-elected unopposed in 1965 and 1970.

He gained worldwide respect for his role as a spokesman for African affairs and as a popular arbitrator in conflicts involving other African nations. Domestically, however, his administration was rife with corruption, and the government was unable to implement much-needed reforms or to alleviate the widespread famine brought on by the Sahelian drought of the early 1970s. Increasingly criticized at home for his negligence in domestic matters, Diori put down a coup in 1963 and narrowly escaped assassination in 1965. Faced with an attempted military coup and attacks by members of Sawaba, he used French advisers and troops to repress opposition, despite student and union protests against French neocolonialism. However, his relationship with France suffered when his government voiced dissatisfaction with the level of investment in uranium production when Georges Pompidou visited Niger in 1972.