COLONIALITY OF CONFLICT, RESOURCE WAR AND CONTENDING GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES SURROUNDING THE 2023 NIGER COUP

By

Joseph Chinedu Ofobuike

Department of Philosophy

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

Abstract

The pervasiveness of conflict situation in the African continent, its relation to African resources and the struggle for power and influence, both internally and externally, have conditioned the nature of politics in the continent. Following the coup carried out by the Niger military against their democratically elected president in 2023 and the reactions from local and international actors, issues around the nature and reactions to conflicts in Africa and Africa’s colonial legacies come to fore. This paper is a critical reflection on the situation in Niger and the geopolitical circumstances associated with it ever since. Using an analytical approach, the researcher explores the true motif of the global reactions to the conflict situation in Niger from the point of view of coloniality of conflict and resource war. Guided by the question; How does the colonial legacy of Niger shape the current crisis and what has it to do with its resources, the researcher argues that the 2023 coup in Niger and reactions to it are manifestations of coloniality of conflict. The paper also reveals the dynamics of resource war, which involves competing interests and agendas over the exploitation and distribution of natural resources in Niger, especially uranium and oil. The paper concludes with a call for a thorough decolonial turn in Africa’s affairs as the solution to unnecessary conflict which exacerbates underdevelopment in the continent.