Mohamed Ben Omar (1 January 1965 – 3 May 2020) was a Nigerien educator and politician. Omar served as a government minister in several cabinets, most recently as Minister of Employment, Labor and Social Protection from April 2017 until his death on 3 May 2020. Omar also founded the Nigerien Social Democratic Party (PSD) in 2015.

Biography

Mohamed Ben Omar was born on 1 January 1965 in

Tesker Tesker or Tasker is a village and rural commune in Niger. As of 2010, it had a population of 33,544 people. It is the birthplace of musician Mamane Barka (b. 1958). The sparsely populated commune extends over a wide area and spans two major regions ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesZinder Region Zinder Region is one of the seven regions of Niger; the capital of the region is Zinder. The region covers 145,430 km². It is the most populous province of Niger. History Numerous Palaeolithic and Neolithic remains, as well as cave painting ...

. From 2000 to 2004, Omar was a professor of

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

at the Lycée Franco-arabe LFA de Niamey. From 2004 to 2007, he was a minister who was responsible for relations among higher-learning institutions. He served as

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesMamadou Tandja Mamadou Tandja (1938 – 24 November 2020) was a Nigerien politician who was President of Niger from 1999 to 2010. He was President of the National Movement for the Development Society (MNSD) from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNSD ...

extend his second term in office by three years, but Tandja was overthrown by the military in February 2010 during the

2010 Nigerien coup d'état A coup d'état occurred in Niger on 18 February 2010. Soldiers attacked the presidential palace in Niamey under weapons fire at midday and captured President Mamadou Tandja, who was chairing a government meeting at the time.Todd Pitman"Armed soldi ...

. From 14 November 2009 to 18 February 2010, Omar was the Fourth Vice-President of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

of the 6th Republic. From March 2011 to April 2016, he was Fourth Vice-President of the National Assembly of the 7th Republic. From April 15, 2016, to April 2017, Omar served as Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. Most recently, Omar served as Minister of Employment, Labor and Social Protection from 27 April 2017 until his death on 3 May 2020. Additionally, Mohamed Ben Omar served President of the Nigerien Social Democratic Party (PSD), which he founded in 2015. Omar allied the PSD with

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Mahamadou Issoufou Mahamadou Issoufou (born 1 January 1952) is a Nigerien politician who served as the President of Niger from 7 April 2011 to 2 April 2021. Issoufou was the prime minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994, president of the National Assembly from 1995 t ...

Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism The Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (french: Parti Nigerien pour la Democratie et le Socialisme, PNDS-Tarayya) is a political party in Niger. It is a broadly left-leaning party, part of the Socialist International, and since 2011 it h ...

party. Prior to establishing the PDS, Omar was a member of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). Omar died on 3 May 2020 at National Hospital in

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...

at the age of 55. On 5 May 2020,

Télé Sahel Télé Sahel is the national broadcaster of the West African state of Niger. Owned and operated by the government Office of Radio and Television of Niger, which also operates Radio Voix du Sahel and the TAL TV satellite station, Télé Sahel pr ...

, the national television broadcaster of Niger, announced that Mohamed Ben Omar had died as a result of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. His Social Democratic Party (PSD) also confirmed that Omar suffered from COVID-19 via

WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...

. Omar was buried in a cemetery in Niamey. Omar died shortly after the death of another prominent Nigerien politician from

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Niger The COVID-19 pandemic in Niger is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Niger in March 2020. Amnesty Int ...

, Mahamane Jean Padonou, a 2016 presidential candidate who became a special advisor to President Mahamadou Issoufou.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Omar, Mohamed 1965 births 2020 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Niger) Ministers of council of Niger Leaders of political parties in Niger Social Democratic Party (Niger) politicians Rally for Democracy and Progress (Niger) politicians People from Zinder Region Nigerien Arabs Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Niger Communication ministers of Niger Education ministers of Niger Labour ministers of Niger Social affairs ministers of Niger