“Ignominy” in the eyes of whom? The west? Is that reason the people of Niger should not choose whether or not their leader stays or go. I guess whatever the West says to This Day columnist must be right, the same way they “gbaju e” by bluffing the gullible Nigerians to jettison the greatest leader we ever had in favor of this currently clueless, lazy-bone called “Servant Leader” that has now taken Nigeria back to the stone age (on the excuse that Nigeria will break up by 2015 if power do not go back to the same North that bankrupted Nigeria for 40 ruinous years). Threat or no threat of economic sanctions, let the good people of Niger decide what is best for them. For my brethren up there in Niamey, all you need do is to look south of the border to see what the western-style “democracy” has done for the copy-copy “yessir-yesman” Nigerians. If you think that Mr. Tandja has the wherewithal to deliver quality leadership until he can adequately educate the public and politicians, alike about the principles of democracy, rights of the led and the responsibilities of the leaders by putting the public first, and about the electorates picking the right leader from a multitude of candidates with credible agenda and ideas plus the capacity to deliver & continue building the nation, precepts by precepts from where incumbent has stopped, then, by all means keep Mr. Tandja. Your future is in your hands not in some foreign tin-gods that do not have the best interest of your common folks at heart but prefer their own lackey that would sell your assets for peanuts while their choice of your leader wouldn't mind to turn the guns on the locals that stand in its way so as to keep the spigot open for the West’s consumption. Good luck!

African leaders have a cancerous obsession with power. When they manage to get in our they think they own the country, own the people, own the Central Bank, own all the currencies, own all the foreign exchange, own all the natural resources and can spend any amount of money on what they want, where they want and also employ all their families to hold key cabinet positions or create a new one for the wife. They dont think beyond how they came to power but like all the other morons cling to power and just would not go until forcefully removed by their own. The AU is like a puppet because those that lead the AU have done the same thing anyway. That is why they are toothless dogs and spineless worms...what a disgrace for us to revisit this again...

You don't have to generalize, my bro. Of course, there are bad leaders, in fact, majority of African leaders that hold on to power are awful and often, they are the ones that had the backing of the West. Case in point, Mobutu was favored over Lumumba, why? go figure. There are benevolent ones, too, Tolbert brought some stability and growth to Liberia - we all know the instability and rut that followed after the old man was gone. Rawlings is another, who would've thought Ghana would be what it is today but for Rawlings' necessary brutality towards the corrupt politicians of old. Often-times, the West's meddling are the cause of African political and economic misery. Ivory Coast was doing well on both fronts until the West (World Bank/IMF) tried to inject one of their own Ouoattarra into the Ivory Coast's leadership regardless of the local laws that prohibits none-indigenes from such office. How arrogant can the west get? Now see the current mess of that "shinning" country which used to be the West's prime example to the rest of Africans. I guess the west makes and breaks on a whim, as they please. They will put you on a pedestal until you disobey then cut you off at the knee. Ghana better beware not to make a mistake of disobedeince to the master.

Threat or no threat of economic sanctions, let the good people of Niger decide what is best for them. For my brethren up there in Niamey, all you need do is to look south of the border to see what the western-style “democracy” has done for the copy-copy “yessir-yesman” Nigerians. If you think that Mr. Tandja has the wherewithal to deliver quality leadership until he can adequately educate the public & politicians, alike about the principles of democracy, rights of the led and the responsibilities of the leaders by putting the public first, and about the electorates picking the right leader from a multitude of candidates with credible agenda and ideas plus the capacity to deliver & continue building the nation, precepts by precepts, from where the incumbent has stopped, then, by all means keep Mr. Tandja. Your future is in your hands not in some foreign tin-gods that do not have the best interest of your common folks at heart but prefer their own lackey that would sell your assets for peanuts while their choice of your leader wouldn't mind turning the guns on the locals that stand in its way so as to keep the spigot open for the West’s consumption. Good luck!

Who made Mamadou Tanjda lord over Niger? Are you telling me that this man is the only person in that country that has brains and therefore ordained to lead his people to the promised land? What has he achieved in 10 years that should make him think that he alone has the answer to what the people of Niger need?

Your analysis runs hollow and can only come from somebody who does not believe in the rule of law.

The Western democracy is not perfect, neither is it without its shortcomings, but it is the best model of how people are governed. With practice comes perfection, and all those countries who have been practicing it for years are gradually perfecting the art of governance, and not creating tin-gods as we see in almost every country in Africa, with the exception of a few.

You cannot also take European donors to task for voicing their displeaure at the precedence that this man wants to set in Niger's body politics, and they have every right to threaten to withhold aid to that poor country if he does not play ball. Afterall, he who pays the piper, calls the tune.

We must look deep within ourselves and ask ourselves if we are not capable of doing anything right, especially with the art of governance.

Mamadou Tandja is on the wrong path and all right thinking persons both far and near must condemn him in no uncertain terms for his power play.

That is the same logic used by the woefully corrupt Nigerian politicians to truncate the previous effective administration "...who made Obasanjo Lord over us?" "...is he the only one that can deliver quality leadership?" Well, Nigerians now know better that they should have kept what worked instead of this major disappointment. Too late to go back now as more years are been wasted on mediocrity. I won't be surprised if "Prince Charles" of Africa is a politician that has been smarting to lay his sticky-palms on a juicy political job so he too can chop a little at the expense of the masses.

What in the world is wrong with Africans?

You come to power after somebody relinguishes power to you and when it is your turn to leave for somebody else to come and continue governing the country, you decide that you will change the constitution so that you can stay on forever.

This story is not akin to Niger alone. Gambia's Jammeh is a virtual president for life, Cameroun's Biya swears that he will die in office, Nguema of Equatoria Guinea says his country belongs to him, Museveni is telling his country folks that since he liberated them from Idi Amin, he should be seen as the emperor, Kenya almost burnt to the ground because Kibaki does not see why he has to lose an election, and the less said about countries in the north, the better, because they are all ruled by fiefdoms.

Now with Niger, a poor landlocked country that relies on foreign countries to feed its people, is in the throes of a constitutional crisis, because the president wants to stay on forever and when the constitutional court ruled otherwise, he dissolves the court and is replacing them with his hand picked men who will do as he pleases.

The whole world is saying no to this power grab, but the guy is unperturbed and is marching on at full throttle. He will continue on this path until the men in uniform pounce on him, either kill him or disgrace him by putting hin in a small windowless roomm, lock the door and throw the key away.

My question is: Why can't African presidents behave like the rest of the world, leave office peacefully as is being practiced in Ghana and Nigeria for example, so that they can be respected as elder statesmen? Why do they have to create situations where the people will rise up against them, give excuses to the men in khaki to come and depose them, thereby subjecting them to public humiliation and ridicule?

What in the world is wrong with the African mind? Will somebody please tell me?

Just leave the poor country alone to settle its own differences. Too many hands in the same pot spoil the brew. How can foreigners seem to know more about what exist on the ground than the locals? Same way the World Bank and IMF dictated for Africa for decades to the extent that those greedy leaders and their poorly educated followers can't seem to think for themselves unless they get approval from the West who eventually turned around to blame the ill advised that they can't govern themselves. How can mere neighbors weep and morn more than the immediate family? Crocodile tears, of course – only to make things worse by setting one group against the other in endless battle with un-intended consequences.