La Nigérienne
"La Nigérienne" (French pronunciation: [la ni.ʒe.ʁjɛn]; "The Nigerien") is the former national anthem of Niger. The lyrics are by Maurice Albert Thiriet; Robert Jacquet and Nicolas Abel François Frionnet wrote the music. It was adopted as Niger's anthem in 1961 and relinquished in 2023.
English: The Nigerien | |
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Former national anthem of Niger | |
Lyrics | Maurice Albert Thiriet |
Music | Robert Jacquet and Nicolas Abel François Frionnet |
Adopted | 1961 |
Relinquished | June 22, 2023 |
Succeeded by | The Honor of the Fatherland |
Audio sample | |
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History
The anthem was written by French film composer Maurice Albert Thiriet. The music was composed by two other Frenchmen,[1] Robert Jacquet and Nicolas Abel François Frionnet. It was adopted in 1961, a year after Niger gained independence from France.[2]
On 21 November 2019, President Mahamadou Issoufou announced that he had decided to change the national anthem. The decision followed criticism that some of the lyrics appeared to express gratitude to the former coloniser, France, with Nigeriens on social media challenging lines three and four. A committee chaired by Prime Minister Brigi Rafini was "charged with reflecting on the current anthem by providing corrections" and "if possible find a new anthem that responds to the current context of Niger". Created in 2018, it was composed of several members of the Government and about fifteen "experts experienced in writing and musical composition". For Assamana Malam Issa, Minister of Cultural Renaissance, "We must find a hymn that can galvanize the population, be for us a kind of war cry to touch our patriotic fiber".[2]
On June 22, 2023, the Nigerien parliament adopted The Honor of the Fatherland as Niger's new anthem.[3]
Lyrics
French original
French lyrics[4][5] | IPA transcription[lower-alpha 1] |
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Auprès du grand Niger puissant |
[opɾe dy gɾɑ̃ niʒe pɥisɑ̃] |
Translations
Hausa lyrics | English translation |
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A duk faɗin ƙasar Nijar mai ƙarfi |
Throughout great powerful Niger |
References
- Idrissa, Abdourahmane (2020). Historical Dictionary of Niger. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 368. ISBN 978-1-5381-2015-6.
- "Niger set to change post-colonial anthem, six decades later". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- "Niger adopts new national anthem". NorthAfricaPost.com. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- "La Nigérienne". Présidence de la République du Niger (in French). Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- Koudizé, Aboubacar Kio (1991). Chronologie politique du Niger de 1900 à nos jours (in French). Impr. nationale du Niger. p. 9.
Notes
- See Help:IPA/French and African French.
External links
- Niger: La Nigérienne - Audio of the national anthem of Niger, with information and lyrics (archive link)
- nationalanthems.info has lyrics, with an English translation.