Background
He was born in 1910, at Namourou, near Niamey, in a Songhai district chief’s family.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Diamballa Yansambou Maiga
Edit ProfileEducation
He was a somewhat unwilling pupil and was actually forced to school by the police, where he flourished, getting a diploma at the Niamey Higher Primary School as the second best student.
Career
He had a natural gift for languages and was a clerk in the Finance Department from 1929 to 1940. Between 1940 and 1945 he went to work in the mountains at Agadez for health reasons and there learnt Arabic and other local languages. He returned to Niamey in 1949 to become clerical officer and later head of his section at the Treasury. In October 1946 he attended the famous Bamako conference, when the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain was founded and later was a founder member of the Niger Progressive Party (PPN). In the 1957 election he won a seat for Tillabery to the Territorial Assembly and won again in the elections of 1958 to the National Assembly, when the PPN swept Djibo Bakary’s UDN party from power. A close colleague of Hamani Diori, he was appointed Minister of Interior and has remained in that position and a close counsellor of the President ever since.
Politics
One of his major problems has been to reconcile the party membership that has been critical of public officials and prefects. Accusations of mismanagement and corruption have recurred from time to time over the years.
Personality
His wide knowledge of most languages spoken in his country and his quiet systematic approach, a product of years of training, are put to good use in the Interior Ministry where he has the largest budget of any government department. Respected as the oldest minister in the government, he is aware that Diori is now gradually bringing in younger men and rejuvenating his cabinet.
-
Born
-
Died
January 19, 1976 (aged 66) -
Nationality
Nigerian -
Political Party
Niger Progressive Party
Career
-
1958