On the 18th Feb 2010, the Niger's long serving president Col. Mamadou Tandja was dethroned forcefully by the junta led by Maj. Salou Djibo. Ten days later, the junta promised to organize elections soon. In fact, Maj. Djibo having declared himself president, made a personal promise to the Nation that ''...in this country, the time for authoritarian regime is over'' The Daily Nation. Nairobi. Friday March 5, 2010: p6.In spite of my deep love with democracy, and in spite of my devout dislike for coups d'etats and subsequent junta rule, I received the news of the coup d'etat with a sigh of relieve since Col. Tandja had manipulated the Niger's constitution.
However, upon seeing the junta leader's photo, I have every reason to postpone my celebration. Indeed, I am worried that these promises made by the junta may not hold. My advice therefore is for the citizenry to prepare early enough to pressurize the junta to put a time-frame to their promises. Otherwise, according to me, their 'soon' may extend beyond two years.
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