Ali Saibou

Ali Saibou (b. 1940) was the President of Niger from 1987 to 1993, succeeding the deceased Seyni Kountché.

A member of the Djerma people, he was born in Dingajibanda , a village of Ouallam arrondissment. (Although from Kountché's home village, Saibou is not a cousin.) He was early interested in a military career, and attended the Saint-Louis preparatory school in Senegal from 1954, then joined the First Senegalese Tirailleurs Regiment . He saw action in Cameroon in 1960, and was wounded there.

Upon Niger's independence in 1960, Saibou was transferred to the new Niger Army as a sergeant. He attended officers' school, and in 1969 was put in command of a unit at N'Guigmi , then in 1973 at Agadez, where he reached captain. Saibou threw in his lot with Kountché in the coup of 1974, and brought his troops from Agadez to Niamey. As a reward he was promoted to major, appointed to the cabinet as minister of rural economy and the environment, and on 20 November 1974, made chief of staff.

However, Kountché was suspicious of Saibou; in June 1975 he dismissed Saibou from the cabinet and asked him to relinquish his command of the armed forces. Saibou countered by asking to be retired from the service altogether, an act which apparently allayed Kountché's fears, and Saibou remained loyal until Kountché's death.

Saibou then secured his nomination by the Supreme Military Council as Kountché's successor, subsequently sending military rivals overseas with diplomatic tasks, and transforming the MNSD into the one political party in Niger. In 1989 he had a new constitution approved, and ran as the sole presidential candidate in December.

In the early part of 1990, unrest by students and a Tuareg assault on Tchin Tabaraden led to a National Conference of 1991 that ultimately dismantled military rule, leaving Saibout mostly ineffective. He lost the Niger presidential election, 1993 to Mahamane Ousmane, and retired to his home village.

Reference

• Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Niger, 3rd ed. (Scarecrow Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8108-3136-8) pp. 265-266