After 48 hours of discussions, he won against another general, this Saturday, July 29, 2023. A witness to the discussions told RFI, “The first day at the presidential guard camp, it was a bit tense. For some, Abdourahamane Tchiani was not the right choice. In the army, people found him too close to former president Mahamadou Issoufou. He probably worked in the night from Thursday to Friday.”
It is true that it was the former president of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou (2011-2021) who brought to light the one who was still a colonel by appointing him initially «aide de camp». He will be quickly bombed chief of the presidential and general guard. At the head of a few hundred well-trained men, he watched day and night over the head of state who had given him the means of his policy. Then General Tchiani will be confirmed in the same position when President Mohamed Bazoum comes to power in 2021, watching over his two bosses as well as the apple of his eye, for example by watching two attempted coups. In return, the two will have pampered him.
One of his classmates describes him: «We were recruited together in the army in 1984 in Niamey, more precisely in the “commune 1″. I remember our first rookie outfit, blue with sandal on the first day. The recruiting by commune was eight people. After our recruitment, the next day, we went to the training center in Tombia, located about ten kilometers from Niamey. And there, an instructor raised his voice on us. Tchiani immediately replied, he is a man of character.”
He certainly knows how to maneuver. While on the first day of the coup, he knew he was not in a good position to lead the movement, he proposed that the various corps send delegates to television to announce the takeover of power by the army. His deputy was there. The next day, as negotiations were getting bogged down, one of his deputies threatened to no longer guarantee the safety of President Mohamed Bazoum as a sign of threats.
«General Tchiani is a true military leader», confides another Nigerien officer who has known him for 23 years. On the day of the coup, before taking action by sequestering President Mohamed Bazoum, he would have felt a grain of sand in his plan. But determined, he would have rushed into the office of the one who was still his leader to ask him to put himself at his disposal.
On Friday, July 28, he appeared on national television as the new strong man, reading a statement as president of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNPS). General Tchiani justified Wednesday’s coup by «the deterioration of the security situation». According to him, under President Mohamed Bazoum, there was «the political discourse» which wanted to make believe that «everything is fine». However, there was «the harsh reality with its share of deaths, displaced, humiliation and frustration». In the aftermath, as if to show that he was taking matters into his own hands, he summoned the secretaries general of the departments responsible for managing the day-to-day business.
Military training and career path
Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tchiani is a former student of the National School of Active Officers of Thiès, Senegal. He was rather an average student. The man also completed several internships and training abroad. But he also did field work in his country. For example, in the region of Diffa (Nguiguimi and Ngoourti), then Dirkou. Among the positions held are that of company commander at the Chadian border (1996-1997). He also served in the high command of the National Gendarmerie. In 2010, he was commander of zone 3 in Zinder.
To thank him for his loyalty, President Bazoum dressed in white a few months ago publicly stated: “Brigadier General Tchiani Abdourahamane, Chief of the Presidential Guard of Niger, you have climbed all the command levels of the Nigerien armed forces, from elementary units to defence zones. You have assumed all of his responsibilities fully and with a spirit of dedication, self-sacrifice, availability and loyalty…” Standing at attention, General Tchiani listened to his leader, received his decoration and disappeared.
“General Tchiani’s other strong point is that he knows how to be cold. You never know what he thinks,” reports an African diplomat stationed in Niamey. A personality from the sub-region who received medical care a few months ago in Turkey, at the same time as the new strongman from Niger, confirms: “I followed medical care at the same time as he did in Turkey a few months ago. He knows how to hide things. It can be funny, but it’s hard to know what he’s thinking.”
Abdourahamane Tchiani has more than friends. One of them throws the first pike at him after his installation in the chair of the CNSP: «When he criticizes the fight against terrorism led by President Mohamed Bazoum, I do not agree. It was at the heart of the device. I will even tell you that sometimes, when a helicopter had to be flown to attack the jihadists, he refused, arguing that the aircraft could actually be used to carry out a coup.” «Galéjades!» replied a captain of the Nigerien army very close to him.
Other interviewees believe that it is less popular in the military than other senior officers. And others pout when we recite the facts of arms of the one who was in 2010 the commander of the military zone n°3 of Zinder.
After the coup, former president Mahamadou Issoufou, former mentor of Niger’s new strongman, did not speak out. This silence has been variously interpreted. Does General Tchiani work for him in a submarine? A relative of Issoufou categorically denies.
It is at work that we know the craftsman. We must therefore see General Tchiani govern, murmurs a supporter of Mohamed Bazoum, who announces «surprises».
