Profile: Salim Mokaddem

Eleanor Sa-Carneiro

Meet Salim Mokaddem. Professor, author, philosopher. Special adviser to the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum. Member of the French Society of Philosophy, and author of several acclaimed works and books. Founding member of the Niger Party for Democracy and Socialism, which is currently fighting for the release of the Nigerien President and a return to constitutional order.

Prof. Mokaddem is, above all else, a force for positive change. During his tenure as the Special Adviser to the President of Niger, responsible for the Education unit, he led the charge championed by his former Philosophy Professor colleague and friend, President Bazoum, to expand and improve the country’s education system.

Thanks to his contribution, among others, including that of President Bazoum, thousands of Nigerien girls were to receive education, be fed, and protected by the State through state-funded boarding schools. Mokaddem and Bazoum’s belief – that Education matters most – drove them to considerable lengths to forge a strong foundation on which Niger could proudly stand on.

“Niger is part of a Sahelo-Saharan zone. The fact that there are boarding schools allows young girls to be socially protected from political upheavals, border wars, terrorist attacks, from a certain violence endemic to Sahelian society, and thus to be able to grow in an emotional and social security which is essential to the socio-cognitive development of the child.” – Prof. Mokaddem, stated in an interview with the United Nations Population Fund.

Professor Salim Mokaddem demonstrates resolve in the fight for Niger’s constitutional order, democracy and the rule of law in tumultuous times.

We are proud to have him as a contributor.