Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages He then served as the foreign minister between 1983 and 1985 and was
secretary-general
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of the
Organisation of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
between 1985 and 1988. He was educated at the Ecole William Ponty in Dakar and IHEOM in Paris. He was an editor and journalist at the Niger Ministry of Information, serving as editor of state paper ''Le Niger'' from 1961 to 1963. He became director general of Information from 1963 to 1972, and then became director of Posts and Telecommunication for the Ministry. Following the 1974 Nigerien Coup d'état, he became cabinet chief and assistant to Military Head of State Seyni Kountche, becoming a particularly close adviser.
In July 1988, Oumarou was nominated to serve a second term as OAU General Secretary, but lost to Tanzania's
Salim Salim
Salim Ahmed Salim ( ar, سليم احمد سليم, sw, Salim Ahmad Salim, born 23 January 1942) is a Tanzanian politician and diplomat who has worked in the international diplomatic arena since the early 1960s.
Early life
Salim was born in wh ...
.
After the death of Kountche, Oumarou became a cabinet adviser to new president, General
Ali Saibou
Ali Saibou (17 June 1940 – 31 October 2011) was the third President of Niger from 1987 to 1993 succeeding the deceased Seyni Kountché.
A member of the Djerma people, he was born in Dingajibanda, a village in the Ouallam arrondissement. Al ...
, who appointed him a Minister of State without portfolio. Also a successful author, Oumarou's first book, entitled ''Gros Plan'', won the 1978 ''Grand Prix Litteraire d' Afrique Francaise.''