Niger is changing its national anthem to remove references to former colonial power France almost 60 years after gaining independence.
Minister of Cultural Renaissance Assoumana Malam Issa says the government wants to introduce a new anthem to serve as “a sort of war cry reaching into our patriotic core” – and he’s asking people to submit their own ideas.
Niger’s current anthem – La Nigérienne – was written by Frenchman Maurice Albert Thiriet in 1961 and many in the country consider the song’s lyrics deferential to France.
