Gabon’s new strongman General Brice Oligui Nguema (R) salutes as he is inaugurated as Gabon’s interim President, in Libreville on September 4, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
A year after seizing power, Gabon’s General Brice Oligui Nguema appears to have his sights set beyond events starting Thursday to mark the coup’s anniversary and firmly on elections next year.
The Central African nation’s new strongman, who deposed president Ali Bongo Ondimba to end the Bongo dynasty’s 55-year rule, has promised to hand power back to civilians next year.
But Oligui already seems to be campaigning for the presidential election set for August 2025, touring the oil-rich country last month.
“If we’ve been able to do certain things in 10 months, that means we could do a lot in seven years,” he said, referring to a presidential term.
The 48-year-old brigadier general was already able to revel in his popularity during Independence Day celebrations, a few days before the anniversary of his August 30 “coup of liberation”.
Fireworks, a banquet, a military parade and several inaugurations of large projects are planned for Thursday and Friday.
With Ali Bongo since then confined to his private estate, according to his lawyer, and his wife and eldest son held in conditions denounced by their lawyers, his junta-led transitional government has said little about the Bongo family’s fate.
Instead, it has claimed to focus on the return to civilian rule, as well as the economic recovery of a country at once rich and underdeveloped, plagued by years of poor governance.
‘Tailored for General Oligui’
Two months after being sworn in as transitional president, the former head of the presidential guard reassured the international community by setting a two-year timetable for the handover of power.
As part of the process towards free and transparent elections, an “inclusive national dialogue” took place in April.
It came up with a thousand proposals presented by around 680 participants — all appointed by Oligui.
The proposals included the introduction of a presidential system without a prime minister and the temporary suspension of the Gabonese Democratic Party, the influential party of the Bongos.
Daniel Mengara, a former political exile who declared his candidacy for the presidential election on Monday, decried the creation of “institutions tailored for General Oligui”.
He said the proposals amounted to “hyper-presidentialism”, similar to the Bongo’s hold on Gabon.
Presented as a synthesis of the national dialogue, a new constitution is due to be published in the coming days.
After going before parliament, it will be put to a referendum by year’s end.
Quality of life
In a recent editorial, the Gabonreview.com news outlet warned against the referendum being treated as a confidence vote in the post-coup authorities, rather than a vote on the constitution itself.
Splashed across gigantic billboards, the transitional government boasts of its efforts to improve Gabon’s quality of life.
It has introduced free school tuition, repaired more than 600 kilometres (370 miles) of roads and launched youth-in-work programmes to tackle an unemployment rate close to 40 per cent among under-25-year-olds.
But day-to-day problems persist, including regular water and electricity cuts, a high cost of living and supply issues.
Accustomed to living off the proceeds of oil, manganese and timber, the country manufactures almost nothing and imports nearly everything else.
That includes fruit and vegetables, despite its fertile land that receives abundant rainfall.
In Africa’s third-richest country in terms of per-capita GDP, one in three lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
‘Discipline’
Oligui’s oft-repeated goal of “economic recovery” has run up against “shortcomings” in the management of public companies and a public debt of 70.5 percent of GDP, highlighted in an International Monetary Fund report in May.
Styled as a “saviour” and a “liberator”, Oligui has kept to his credo: “Union, discipline, work and justice”.
His detractors say, however, it is a line veering towards authoritarianism.
Seven trade unionists from the water and electricity company, SEEG, were arrested after calling for a strike over the abolition of their 13th-month bonus.
They were questioned for three days by the intelligence services before being released with their heads shaven.
Last week, the authorities widely circulated images of a group of youths arrested on accusations of “sowing fear” in the economic capital Port Gentil — they also had their heads shorn.
A Finnish appeal court has reduced the prison sentence of Biafran separatist leader, Simon Ekpa, from six to four years.
Finnish newspaper Yle disclosed this in a report on Thursday.
However, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Päijät-Häme District Court, which found Ekpa guilty of terrorism-related charges last year.
The charges were related to Ekpa’s alleged activities aimed at re-establishing an independent state of Biafra in southeastern Nigeria.
Ekpa subsequently appealed the ruling, seeking to have his conviction and sentence overturned.
In a ruling that offered some relief to Ekpa, the Court of Appeal found him guilty of the same offences but reduced his prison term after considering the circumstances surrounding his actions. The court noted that the situation in the Biafran region closely resembled, but did not meet the definition of, a civil war.
Ekpa had told the court that his involvement was not motivated by terrorist intent, citing the political turmoil in the Biafran region.
The prosecutor in the case had also appealed the district court’s decision, arguing that the prison sentence did not reflect the seriousness of Ekpa’s offences.
The Federal Government has called for stronger international responsibility sharing and innovative arrangement to address the growing humanitarian needs of over 142,000 refugees and asylum seekers from 42 countries.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, made the call while delivering Nigeria’s national statement at the 77th Session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), currently holding at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
In a statement by his Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis, Dr. Abimbola Fasanu, the Minister disclosed that as of September 2026, Nigeria had received over 24,000 returnees and was managing a population of more than 6.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Doro reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to international refugee protection obligations, noting that the country continues to maintain an asylum system under the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) Act of 2022.
He stated that no case of refoulement had been recorded in Nigeria in 2026, reaffirming the country’s commitment to protecting people fleeing persecution from being returned to situations where their lives or freedom could be threatened.
Highlighting progress on durable solutions, the Minister disclosed that over 7,000 Nigerian refugees had voluntarily returned from neighbouring countries this year under Tripartite Agreements, while another 14,000 in Cameroon had registered their intention to return. An agreement covering the return of 2,000 Nigerians from Niger is also being finalised.
He acknowledged the continued hospitality of Cameroon, Chad and Niger in providing refuge to displaced Nigerians.
According to the Minister, improved security conditions in parts of the country are creating opportunities for voluntary return, while Resettlement Cities established in seven locations are supporting the phased closure of displacement camps in conditions of safety and dignity.
Beyond return and resettlement, Dr. Doro outlined measures aimed at promoting self-reliance and reducing prolonged dependence on humanitarian assistance.
He explained that refugees in five states are benefiting from access to land, agricultural inputs and skills training, while the newly established Public-Private Partnership Department of the NCFRMI is supporting efforts to expand livelihood opportunities.
The Minister also cited the successful local integration of former Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees, some of whom have established businesses and become economically active members of their host communities.
On access to essential services, he disclosed that displaced persons and host communities are being enrolled in Nigeria’s national identity system to facilitate access to banking, education and social services.
He added that refugees are being incorporated into state action plans and social registers, while ten mobile documentation buses are expected to extend identity services to underserved and remote communities.
Doro further highlighted the development of a Digital Gateway in collaboration with UNHCR to provide refugees with secure online access to information.
Addressing the growing pressure on humanitarian financing, the Minister urged the international community to strengthen support for refugee-hosting countries through expanded resettlement opportunities, complementary pathways and greater responsibility-sharing.
He specifically called on UNHCR to explore partnerships with regional and subregional financial institutions, including the African Development Bank and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, as a means of mobilising additional resources for refugee protection and durable solutions.
The Minister emphasised that the responsibility for addressing displacement could not rest on host countries alone, particularly at a time of increasing humanitarian needs and declining international resources.
The United States has listed Nigeria among 14 countries identified for recruiting or using child soldiers, warning that the designation could trigger restrictions on certain forms of military assistance.
The listing is contained in the 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which covers the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026.
According to the report, restrictions under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) could affect international military education and training, foreign military financing, excess defence articles, peacekeeping operations and licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment, unless a presidential waiver is granted.
Nigeria was listed alongside Afghanistan, Burma, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.
The report also retained Nigeria on Tier 2 for human trafficking, a category for countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but are making significant efforts to comply.
However, the US raised concerns about corruption and alleged official complicity in human trafficking crimes.
“The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes or provide details or other actions taken against complicit officials from previous years,” the report stated.
The report also faulted Nigeria’s efforts to protect trafficking victims, stating that 675 victims received assistance in 2025, compared with 2,058 in the previous year.
It said support services, particularly for male victims, remained limited, with only one dedicated non-governmental organisation shelter for adult male victims operating during the reporting period.
The report further stated that shelters operated by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) restricted residents’ freedom of movement, while access to certain protection services depended on victims cooperating with law enforcement proceedings.
Despite these concerns, the report acknowledged increased government efforts in investigating, prosecuting and securing convictions in human trafficking cases compared with the previous reporting period.
