URGENT Mali and Burkina Faso are also leaving the OIF, two hours after Niger: the end of an illusion, the beginning of a new era.
Two hours. That’s all it took after Niger’s announcement, which 72 hours earlier notified its withdrawal, for Burkina Faso and Mali to also leave the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). Three states, one cry: sovereignty is not something to be begged for, it is something to be asserted.
We were led to believe that La Francophonie was a family…
We were sold the idea of a “Francophone family,” of “solidarity among peoples speaking the same language.” But where was this solidarity when our nations were being attacked, threatened, and punished for choosing independence? Where were these great defenders of democracy when our people were shouting their anger against an unjust system? The truth is that this organization has never been a space for mutual respect. It has been an instrument of control, a lever of pressure for those who wanted to keep our states in disguised submission.
Today, we say STOP.
Sovereignty is not a debate about a language.
And of course, there will be those who say, “But you speak French, why leave the Francophonie?” As if language defined our freedom. As if the simple fact of speaking a language obliged us to remain under a political yoke.
Need we remind you that Americans speak English without paying homage to the British Crown? That Brazilians speak Portuguese without bowing down to Lisbon? We speak French, yes, but we no longer want it to be a tool of enslavement.
French is a tool, not an identity. It does not define us, it does not confine us. What defines us are our cultures, our values, our traditions, our unwavering will to be masters of our destiny.
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), is a turning point for Sahelian Africa We are building our path. The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) doesn’t just denounce the old system; it’s building the future. It plans to promote our national languages, our culture, and our institutions. True independence isn’t limited to a diplomatic decision. It is lived in our schools, our administrations, our media. It is built by us, for us. An irony of history: the OIF was born in our midst The irony is scathing. The OIF was born in 1970 in Niamey, Niger. This Niger, 55 years later, is the first to say “enough.” This Niger, along with its brothers in Burkina Faso and Mali, is closing this chapter to write a new one.
A strong message. A signal to the world. Sahelian Africa is no longer a backyard where decisions are made for us.
We speak French, yes. But we think like sovereigns. We decide like free men. And no one can take that away from us.
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URGENT Mali and Burkina Faso Give another blow to the French
