"A Lion Doesn't Concern Itself with the Opinion of Sheep"_
- Tywin Lannister of Game of Thrones


It was exactly 6.23am this Saturday morning that I casually engaged a cerebral friend of mine on whatsapp.

That decision to engage was a mistake on my part.

I say it was a mistake because I was billed to start my every-Saturday 20km walk at exactly 6.30am. 3 and one half hours later, I haven't left my laptop.

And I have researched and written what has now essentially become this short article - the Part 2 of yesterday's piece on How Nations Become Powerful. I have captioned this Part 2: On Niger's Uranium, Lions and Sheep.

And I have opened this piece with same quote I opened Part 1 with - the wise words of Tywin Lannister - The Great Lion on the Rock; Lord of Casterly Rock; Head of House Lannister; and Father of Queen Cercei, Queen of the Andals & of the First Men:

_"A Lion Doesn't Concern Itself with the Opinion of Sheep"_

By 6.43am, I was still chatting with my friend when he dropped the bomb that changed my entire morning.

Speaking of the Republic of Niger, Uche Egwu Esq, a well traveled Attorney who happens to be a polygot and a very independent thinker, said, _"That's why America and their allies have military bases there. And those coup guys don't dare approach those mines"_

I stopped dead on my tracks and my head raced in a million different directions at same time. I immediately articulated and shared some of the questions that popped in my head with a group of 45 fun-loving intellectuals that I associate with. I hoped they would provide enquiry and resistance that would motivate my research. They didn't fail.

Here are the questions:

Are there still US troops in Niger?

If yes, why are they quiet?

And why is there no confrontation between them and the coup leaders?

Where are the US troops?

What are they doing wherever they are?

And who is in control of Niger's Uranium mines?

Here's the outcome of my research:

A few days ago on Tuesday the 8th of August 2023, Ms Sabrina Singh, the spokeswoman of the US Defence Department, in response to a question on US troops in Niger said, _"We are going to continue to engage from a military standpoint. I think the fact that our force posture has not changed sends a message that we're committed to the region, we're committed to Niger."_

Further asked why the US is not pulling its troops from Niger, she continued, _"We will not abandon Nigeriens that we've partnered with that, we've trained with over many years. Niger is, of course, an important ally within the region when it comes to counterterrorism and other operations"_

So, long and short of it? There are still US troops in Niger.

Infact, some 1,100 of them. And that is the uniformed ones.

They are stationed in the Agadez Region in North Central Niger about 850km from the capital Niamey

They have a Military base there manned by soldiers and civilians. The number of American civilians there has never been released (you will see why this is important shortly)

They also have a Drone Base there. Operating out of the Arlit Airport. Now, Arlit is a small town of a little over 100,000 people situated in Agadez Region. And the Arlit Airport is a small commercial airport that has largely been taken over by the US.

For a small commercial airport in a small town, Arlit sure sees a lot of planes. Many of them Cargo Planes.

Back to the Drone Base. The Drone Base in the Arlit Airport is officially run by the US Airforce. But in reality, its actually run by civilians. Civilians that work for an organization known as the CIA.

What are they doing there?

_"To assist American and Nigerien forces in counter-terrorism operations, monitor routes used by militants in Niger into neighboring nations, and to assist ongoing operations in Libya"_

Quite incidentally, Niger's Uranium happens to be found mainly in the twin adjoining towns of Arlit and Akokan in same Agadez Region. Here you would find Africa's largest deposits of Uranium.

With an annual production of 3,000 tonnes, Niger is the 4th largest producer of Uranium on earth. And their Uranium happens to be the highest grade Uranium on planet earth.

According to the UNDP, Niger's Human Development Index (HDI), is currently 0.4. Up from 0.27 twenty three years ago. This means that, for most of the last 23 years, Niger has been the poorest nation on planet earth. Overtaken only by Chad and South Sudan in the last 3 years.

Outside of capital Niamey, Niger has experienced considerable development with Road Construction. Many kilometres of roads have been built. Incidentally, most of these roads lead to Arlit. To Arlit Airport to be precise. And they are mainly from small towns like Tahoua. Incidentally again, Tahoua and other similar small towns with road networks to Arlit Airport are all Uranium mining towns.

Meanwhile, according to WorldData, Niger's network of roads and highways has a total length of 18,949 km. For each of the country's 26.21 million inhabitants, this corresponds to 0.72 meters. This puts Niger in 217th place in the global ranking. Put simply, Niger is one of the road-poorest nations on earth. But it has managed to build many hundreds of kilometers of new and good roads to Arlit Airport.

Niger is also one of the electricity-poorest nations on earth. They rank 7th. But Uranium from Niger still manages to power one in every three light bulbs in France. Incidentally once again, a good portion of the electricity outside of capital Niamey is concentrated on powering the areas between Arlit and small Uranium mining towns like Tahoua.

Life expectancy in Niger is a mere 45 years old. And if reading were required to save lives, 71% of Nigeriens would be dead, as 71% of them can neither read nor write. And that right there, is the literal definition of Illiteracy.

In 2015, Niger was ranked the Most Illiterate Country on planet earth with a rating of 19.1%. The runner up behind Niger in this inglorious ranking had a rating of 30.47%. While the top nations, Finland and Norway, each rated 100%.

The 2 major Uranium mining companies in Niger are Somair and Cominak. Between them, they mine over 90% of Niger's Uranium. And they have been doing that since Niger gained its independence from France in August of 1960. Both companies are owned by another company named, Areva.

On the 23rd of January 2018, Areva rebranded itself to Orano but still maintained ownership of 60% of Somair and 64% of Cominak. Speaking of the rebranding, Chief Executive, Philippe Knoche said, _"We had to change our name - we are a new company with a different perimeter, focused on the fuel cycle"_

Others have suggested the rebranding exercise had other goals.

On 16 February 2017, the "Uranium Gate scandal" broke out, causing the French group Areva to lose $101 million on the sale of a uranium stockpile. Through Russian and Lebanese intermediaries, millions in retro commissions were paid out to several "agents" including Nigeriens. AREVA's headquarters were searched in Paris in November of 2017 by the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office, and a judicial enquiry opened on _"bribery of foreign public officials, private corruption, criminal conspiracy"_ concerning this sale of Uranium from Niger.

Only 2 months after, Areva rebranded to Orano. Some schools of thought say the rebranding was related to this Uranium Gate Scandal. Nothing ever came of the Judicial Enquiry.

Keep somehwere at the back of your mind that Areva was an SOE (State Owned Enterprise). And so is Orano. This means that they are officially owned by the State and Government of France.

Back to their operations in Niger. As a rule, Somair and Cominak does not disclose (and in 63 years of operation, has never disclosed), their payment to the government of Niger for extraction and export of Uranium. It's a black box operation. Total Black Box.

What is not Black Box however, is that under the terms of a decades-old agreement, Samair and Cominak are only required to pay 5.5% of revenues to the people and government of Niger. And yes, that wasnt a typo. You read it right. 5.5%. (Five and one half percent). Thats all they pay to the Republic of Niger.

With all these stupendous profits being airlifted out of Arlit Airport, you may wanna ask yourself again:

What are US troops doing in Niger? And why are they quiet?

What type of air cover is the US Drone Base in Arlit Airport providing? And for who?

Does the new regime in Niamey control Arlit and Akokan? Or are Arlit and Akokan controlled by the US Airforce and the CIA? Who is currently in control of Niger's Uranium deposits - Lion or Sheep?

If Lion is in control of Uranium deposits in Arlit, why has Niamey not moved on Arlit? Can Niamey be said to have control of the whole Niger presently?

If Lion is so interested in sustaining Democracy, why is Lion containing itself in Arlit while Democracy is being 'assaulted' in Niamey? Why has Lion not moved on Niamey?

Why does it appear Lion is instigating ECOWAS to move on fellow Sheep in Niamey?

What Lessons may hold from all these for Sheep?

Can Sheep become Lion?

I know I suggested I would provide answers. But here I am leaving you with more questions.

My sincere apologies.

"A Lion Doesn't Concern Itself with the Opinion of Sheep"

Emeka Orjih. 𝕿𝖞𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖘𝖙
Finance & Development Strategist.
Twitter: @emekaorjih

Lion please roar nahhh..
Btw, everyone, everybody should please always pray and be very careful of how you move any time of the day o, especially in the ronu territories including even Lagos state.

Today's punch online reveals a lot of skull mining activities and mining industrialists in action with the police recovering mined skulls being transported by same skull miners/transporters and mining industrialists!!!!!!!

A word issa enough for the wise!!!!!

... This your FTC fit derail the important review and comprehension of the critical research findings in this post sha..

Justiceleague1:
Lion please roar nahhh..
Btw, everyone, everybody should please always pray and be very careful of how you move any time of the day o, especially in the ronu territories including even Lagos state.

Today's punch online reveals a lot of skull mining activities and mining industrialists in action with the police recovering mined skulls being transported by same skull miners/transporters and mining industrialists!!!!!!!

A word issa enough for the wise!!!!!

We all know it was never about democracy.

Niger, very likely, is doomed to go the way of Libya.

The west might instigate some supposed supporters of Bazum to start shooting the army, or another set of coupists, using promise of trinkets and power, then provide weapons and let it degenerate into a civil war.
I don't see then ever leaving that uranium to Russia.
Africa is already several steps behind, to simply do the 'right thing '. Infrastructure? Implements to farm our own food? Energy? If we simply turn our back to the west.

This is why I think Tinubu is doing something smart by pretending to go along with the west but foot dragging just to prevent some of our neighbors punishment coming our way too in sanctions. Nigeria will have to become involved eventually, if the place becomes a crisis. Just the storyline would matter- peacekeeping maybe.

Excellent review sir. As the developed world compete (in elephant battle) to move from fossils (petroleum) to non-fossil (cleaner) energy, locations rich with the raw material deposits of this new energy will either encounter great advancement or great crisis. Niger is unfortunately falling into the latter category, and Nigeria being its big bros have alot to do to save Niger, else Nigeria (especially the northern part) will be badly degraded by an extended Niger crisis. As you have rightly said in your rare wisdom, I also believe BAT is currently playing a smart one on the big boys, by giving them a quick impression that hes ready to rapidly do whatever it take to bring Niger back to order. However, in reality he will take his time to carefully weigh his options, particularly as it may affect his firm leadership of the country.

IndexMode:
We all know it was never about democracy.

Niger, very likely, is doomed to go the way of Libya.

The west might instigate some supposed supporters of Bazum to start shooting the army, or another set of coupists, using promise of trinkets and power, then provide weapons and let it degenerate into a civil war.
I don't see then ever leaving that uranium to Russia.
Africa is already several steps behind, to simply do the 'right thing '. Infrastructure? Implements to farm our own food? Energy? If we simply turn our back to the west.

This is why I think Tinubu is doing something smart by pretending to go along with the west but foot dragging just to prevent some of our neighbors punishment coming our way too in sanctions. Nigeria will have to become involved eventually, if the place becomes a crisis. Just the storyline would matter- peacekeeping maybe.

Niger is also one of the electricity-poorest nations on earth. They rank 7th. But Uranium from Niger still manages to power one in every three light bulbs in France.

I have been hearing that uranium from Niger powers one in every three light bulbs in France for the past two weeks. But how does this claim stand up to close scrutiny?

(1) France derives 70% and not 100% of her energy supply from Nuclear power.
(2) Over the past 10 years, Niger accounted for 20% of the 88,200 tonnes of natural uranium imported into France.
(3) According to French state-owned nuclear energy company, Orana, in contrast to earlier years, France currently sources less than 10% of the uranium required to power its nuclear plants.

The devil is always in the detail...

A beautiful read. It's worth the time given to it.

Good read. It's worth the time given to it.

The facts will be coming out gradually. It will still be interesting though, to see how and when ECOWAS soldiers will match into Niger with the alleged presence of US military camp in the country. Or should we just focus on Niamey

DaddyJapan:


I have been hearing that uranium from Niger powers one in every three light bulbs in France for the past two weeks. But how does this claim stand up to close scrutiny?

(1) France derives 70% and not 100% of her energy supply from Nuclear power.
(2) Over the past 10 years, Niger accounted for 20% of the 88,200 tonnes of natural uranium imported into France.
(3) According to French state-owned nuclear energy company, Orana, in contrast to earlier years, France currently sources less than 10% of the uranium required to power its nuclear plants.

The devil is always in the detail...