Niger’s military government has announced the nationalisation of the country’s sole industrial gold mine, accusing its Australian operator of “serious breaches” as the junta seeks greater control of natural resources.

The military junta has ruled the West African nation since seizing power in a 2023 coup, promising to crack down on Niger’s myriad security issues.

Juntas in Niger, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali have ramped up pressure on foreign mining companies in recent years, with Niger nationalising the local branch of French uranium giant Orano in June.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[+] -26 points 1 year ago* (7 children)

Lol.

I saw this and was going to say "I kinda wanna say this is good, but I'm skeptical of Niger's government to share the wealth with its people etc etc." and then I see "Niger's military government" in the preview.

Sigh.

  • source
  • hideshow 14 child comments
  • [–] 45 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    So instead of wanting Niger to have sovereignty over its own industry, you'd trust western imperialists to share the wealth more? This is absurd, the only way to kick out imperialists is through nationalization of imperialized industry.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -34 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Gonna block ya.

    The bad faith arguments and dogpiling to fit in gets old.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 34 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's not being bad-faith, you made a bad argument in favor of Australian imperialists. People are calling you out for it, deservedly so. "Fitting in" has nothing to do with it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -13 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I’m not going to suggest european/western companies be “better” for a country and continent that has suffered centuries of abuses by those same people, but at the same time it is perfectly sane to question whether or not a military junta, in an area historically also terrorized by those same kinds of “leaders”, won’t just siphon off all the money to foreign bank accounts until they too are killed or run away to another country and live off their gains.

    That’s not an argument in favor of either group, it’s saying maybe out of the frying pan and into the fire.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    And I am saying that suggesting that the conditions on the ground in Niger will be the same or worse, without actually doing the research into why this is happening or why the people of Niger support this overwhelmingly, just cedes the narrative to western imperialists unhappy that Niger is charting its own course. The only way for the development of Africa is to throw off the reigns of imperialism the west has shackled them to.

    Even if the new gov does disproportionately benefit from this move, the wealth will stay more in Niger, whereby the national bourgeoisie will at minimum be incetivized into expanding production and continuing development on Niger's own terms. That's the worst-case scenario from this, the best case is that the gov itself directs this new wealth directly into expanded production and infrastructural development. Either case is much better for the people of Niger, which is why they support it so strongly.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -9 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    You really need to “research” it after already laying blame? Quire apparent your mind is made up.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago

    Yea, because I've been following what's been going on in the Sahel States enough to know that this is a good thing, and that those who just cede the narrative to the imperialists they are throwing off are doing more harm than anything else.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 30 points 1 year ago (1 child)
  • [+] -26 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    I gotta admit, you're about the 5th hexbear user within the past hour that has responded to me with unintelligible nonsense.

    I gotta see if it's possible to block your instance as a whole, now.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 33 points 1 year ago

    For your entire life you have been fed a certain narrative about the evils of nationalisation, the scary brown "juntas", the boogeyman of communism. You read this headline, thought this seems good, looked at the propaganda, then thought "this seems bad"

    You are getting flamed because of your failure to engage critically with the propaganda. The fact that everyone else in the thread sees this as positive should tip you off

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 27 points 1 year ago

    Boo hoo our imperial corporations can no longer terrorize this piece of africa, continuing in our proud colonialist legacy. Yes lets be sceptical of the military kicking them out(hopefully). Lets address THEIR democratic record. Who do you think you can fool here? When the government in Burkina Faso took power same argument could be made. Yet they invest massively in for example agriculture industry. They prop up education for young children. Compare this to what was there before.

    I hope that this will become liberation to the Niger and others soon to follow.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] [S] 23 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's Africa. With all the imperialist Western meddling and bribery there is no possibility for Democracy to help their population.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    This dipshit was in another thread a couple minutes ago saying racist shit about Mexico too.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Sorry fella, but you need to judge a government by the policies it applies, not simply to the form it takes.

    This over attachment to the form makes up many smug liberals who are often unpoliticized, misrepresented by the very representatives they elect, which only do the bidding of powerful lobby groups tied to the financial sector.

    The liberal voting system, along with the multi-party system, hasn't been capable, for a long time, to guarantee that people's voice are being heard. The people in the West, for a long time, is holding this smug attitude as if they were the pinnacle of civilization, when in fact they are the biggest fools and jesters of the world who are constantly squabbling against each other and persecuting minority groups while they are being robbed blind by equity, rent, taxes, interest rates, and having their jobs being moved to other places.

    So, yeah, Niger maybe a dictatorship of a military junta but they are taking the steps of getting rid of their Western parasites, the same people that make your life harder at each passing day, while you are complaining about they not being pure enough or for not conforming with your stupid idealization of how government systems should work. Stop being a fool and instead of arrogantly complaining and diminishing their actions, go read something organize and do something productive. Stop being a fool, for god's sake!

  • source
  • parent
  • [+] -9 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I was thinking the same. It would be nice if the profits end up benefiting the people but it might end up benefiting just the select few elites. Local elites but still.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The privatized system already only benefited the Australian elites and compradors in Niger. Nationalization directly keeps the wealth in Niger, and not flowing out to Australia. This is anti-imperialism in action, and you're finger-wagging them for it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -13 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    Uhm, that's what i was saying. Before it was foreign elite few who benefited from it, now it might unfortunately still be elite few, but local.

    This is anti-imperialism in action, and you’re finger-wagging them for it.

    I'm just saying i wish the money will end up benefiting the people at large, not a select few. If it's some military junta who will use it to buy gold plated Rolls-Royces while the people live in poverty then of course I'm going to finger wag at that lol

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Your immediate insinuation that kicking out foreign plunder, therefore freeing up resources for domestic development of their own industry, somehow is the exact same and that this must be the case, is an extremely western-centric viewpoint and is chauvanistic.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -14 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Nope. I'm apprehensive because it's a military junta behind it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Niger is in the Alliance of Sahel States, a progressive coalition of anti-imperialist countries in Africa turning their backs on France, Austrailia, and other imperialists. You're accepting the imperialist framing of a popularly supported government that couped the old, French comprador government that did the exact thing you accuse the new government of doing.

    No investigation, no right to speak. You're acting like a parrot for French propaganda.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -9 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The text in the OP and the article it links to is talking about a military junta...

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Correct, you are parroting the tone of the article without doing any further research. The government is broadly supported by its people, it was the result of a coup in 2023 against a deeply unpopular comprador, but at the same time it's clearly a progressive and anti-imperialist government supported by the people. Finger-wagging without doing any research on your part means you are exceptionally prone to propaganda.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Not sure why being apprehensive about military juntas of all things upsets you so.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    What upsets me is when westerners do absolutely no research on the background and material processes at play in the global south and jump to finger-wagging at an unquestionably progressive, anti-imperialist action. It's chauvanism.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -9 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Military juntas just have a bad track record. It doesn't matter where they're located.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Speaking without doing any research on a topic and just parroting the western viewpoint just has an evil track record used to justify coups, invasions, and sanctions. It doesn't matter how well-intentioned you are.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I don't think the apprehension about military rule is just a Western thing.

    has an evil track record used to justify coups

    I mean they came to power through a coup

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    The refusal to actually look into the underlying social forces and class struggle on the ground in Niger leading to the nationalization of their gold mine is deeply western, and parroting the narrative uncritically is western.

    Yes, the current government came to power through a coup, one against the pro-imperialist comprador that was doing the exact thing you accuse the new government of doing. The new gov is widely loved by its people, similar to Ibrahim Traoré in Burkina Faso.

    You're just posturing and finger-wagging people working to directly combat the serious problem of western imperialism forcing under-development of Africa.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'm just hoping they don't go the way of most military juntas.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I'm just hoping you'll stop trying to play innocent while uncritically parroting western talking-points.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] -10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Not sure why in your mind being apprehensive about military juntas is a Western thing. Many places have more recent experiences about it going bad.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Because you don't know what you're talking about, have done no research, yet feel fully comfortable speaking your uninformed opinion on how a country chooses to chart its own course.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)