By Shelton Owen
Niger, West Africa is a democracy, albeit, a struggling one since it achieved independence in 1960. Since that time, its government has been rocky, to say the least, and the current election for a new president is a positive step.
It mirrored our Republican Party’s weeding out of candidates until two front-runners emerged from the crowded pool of fifteen candidates. One of them is the current President Mahamadou Issoufou and the other is Hama Amadou.
Roughly 7.5 million people cast votes in February’s election, but as it turned out, neither side can begin the celebrations just yet. Though Issoufou and Amadou led the pack, neither hit the magic 50% of votes needed to secure the election.
Issoufou racked up 48.4 percent of the votes, missing the mark by a mere 167,000. Amadou trailed behind at 17.4%, but was in fact the next closest candidate . A runoff is due to be held on March 20th. We will be watching closely to see who takes the reigns.
Amadou is currently running his campaign from behind bars, but his faithful supporters conducted campaign rallies in his absence. President Issoufou made confident claims he would deliver a “knockout” blow to opponent.
He lobbied for a second term on the platform of rejuvenating the economy and protecting the country against attacks from terrorist groups. Niger has long been a bastion of peace compared to its neighbor to the south–Nigeria, besieged by Boko Haram and from Al Qaeda presenting the bigger threat.
As Niger continues to secure its democratic way of life, Wells Bring Hope’s contribution in improving health and overall quality of life is critical. Through your support we can all contribute to making Niger a better place to live.
