Mamadou Maidah (1924 – 4 November 2005) was a

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

ien politician and diplomat. Mamadou was the Foreign Minister of Niger from 1963 to 1965, and a leading member of the ruling PPN-RDA party. Mamadou—his surname—was born in

Tessaoua Tessaoua, formerly known as Tessawa, is a city located in the Maradi Region of Niger. It has a population of 43,409 (2012 census). Tessaoua is historically an important city in its region. It is situated in a central geographical location. Tessa ...

in 1924, the child of local

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

aristocratic family, whose father was a

Marabout In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...

(religious leader) and one time head of the Tessaoua local council under French colonial rule. Maidah became a teacher at Katibougou Teachers College,

Kati, Mali Kati is an urban commune and the largest town in Mali's Koulikoro Region. The town is situated 15 km northwest of Bamako, Mali's capital, on the Dakar-Niger Railway. In the 2009 census, the commune had a population of 114,983. History Kat ...

(then

French Soudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formally ...

). He served in the French Armed Forces from 1946 to 1947, and taught in Niger until 1958. In 1959 he was elected to the consultative Nigerien National Assembly from Tessaoua from

Hamani Diori Hamani Diori (6 June 1916 – 23 April 1989) was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence from France. Although corruption was a common feature of his administration, ...

's PPN-RDA. He became Niger's first

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

from 1959 to 1961. From 1961 to 1963, he was

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

, Minister of Rural Economy from 1963 to 1970, and Foreign Minister of Niger from July 1970 to 1972. Thereafter he served as

Minister of Information An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given t ...

until the

1974 Nigerien coup d'état The 1974 Nigerien coup d'état was a largely bloodless military insurrection which overthrew the first postcolonial government of Niger. The government that followed, while plagued by coup attempts of its own, survived until 1991. Background Th ...

.President of The Republic of Niger: governments of H. Diori
Accessed 2009-05-19 While a marginal figure in government decision making, Mamadou's very public roles owed much to his background in Hausa society in a government dominated by political leaders from the Zarma and Songhay of the west of Niger. Following the Military seizure of power, Mamadou was arrested, charged—but never convicted—with the embezzlement of 7 million CFA francs and fraud involving some 18 million more. He remained under house arrest until 1976, when many former political leaders were released by the military with the stipulation that they refrained from political activity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamadou, Maidah 1924 births 2005 deaths Ministers of council of Niger Foreign ministers of Niger Nigerien Progressive Party – African Democratic Rally politicians People from Maradi Region Hausa people 20th-century Nigerien politicians