Paper short abstract:

There are divided positions on the necessity or otherwise of the 2023 coup d’état in Niger Republic. This research is an attempt to present the dominant positions of the politically excluded and marginalised about the coup d’état, and the political development of Niger Republic in general.

Paper long abstract:

This research seeks to interrogate the dominant positions of the political outliers about the 2023 coup d’état in Niger Republic. The coup d’état took place against the backdrop of the condemnation of the resurgence of military take-over of government within West Africa. The sub-regional grouping, the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) condemned the act of democratic backsliding, and made concrete pronouncements about the immediate return to democratic governance in Niger Republic. The military administration however rebuffed the sub-regional organisation’s threats and consolidated its hold on power. This research attempts to empirically investigate the dominant positions of the “periphery” in the dynamics of political power contestations in Niger Republic. In this research, the periphery is composed of the politically excluded and marginalised rural dwellers that are far removed from the political intrigues and shenanigans of the elites in Niamey. The major research questions include; (1).Was the military intervention justified, given the socio-economic and political conditions under the President Bazoum administration? (2). How did the politically marginalised perceive the position of ECOWAS with respect to the coup d’état? (3). What is the position of the politically marginalised about the performance of the military administration so far, in respect of the loss of socio-political rights, and the current state of the economy? In response to these questions, we would engage the qualitative methodology through data gathered from both primary (interviews and questionnaires) and secondary (academic and government publications) sources. The data will be thematically and content analysed to produce the findings.