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Hamani Diori (6 June 1916 – 23 April 1989) was the first President of the Republic of Niger.

Born in the town of Soudouré, Diori was the son of a Djerma public health official in the French colonial administration. He attended the William Ponty Teachers' Training College in Dakar, Senegal, worked as a teacher in Niger from 1936 to 1938, and then as a Hausa and Djerma language instructor at the Institute of Overseas Studies in Paris.

In 1946, while working as the headmaster of a school in Niger’s capital city of Niameyhe, he became one of the founders of the Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN), a regional branch of the African Democratic Rally (RDA). Later that year, he was elected to the French National Assembly. In the 1951 election, Diori was defeated by his cousin and political rival Djibo Bakary. He was again elected to the assembly in 1956, and was chosen deputy-speaker.

In 1958, after a referendum that granted Niger self-government, Diori became president of the provisional government. He then became Prime Minister of the republic in 1959. During this period, the French government banned all political parties except the PPN, effectively making Niger a one-party state.

Niger gained independence from France on 3 August 1960 and Diori was elected president by the country's national assembly in November 1960. Organizing a powerful coalition of HAUSA, FULANI, and Djerma leaders, including chiefs and traditionalists, in support of Niger’s independence referendum, Diori gained French favor. During his presidency, Diori's government favored the maintenance of traditional social structures and the retention of close economic ties with France. He was re-elected unopposed in 1965 and 1970.

He gained worldwide respect for his role as a spokesman for African affairs and as a popular arbitrator in conflicts involving other African nations. Domestically, however, his administration was rife with corruption, and the government was unable to implement much-needed reforms or to alleviate the widespread famine brought on by the Sahelian drought of the early 1970s. Increasingly criticized at home for his negligence in domestic matters, Diori put down a coup in 1963 and narrowly escaped assassination in 1965. Faced with an attempted military coup and attacks by members of Sawaba, he used French advisers and troops to repress opposition, despite student and union protests against French neocolonialism. However, his relationship with France suffered when his government voiced dissatisfaction with the level of investment in uranium production when Georges Pompidou visited Niger in 1972.

Widespread civil disorder followed allegations that some government ministers were misappropriating stocks of food aid and accused Diori of consolidating power. Diori limited cabinet appointments to fellow Djerma, family members, and close friends. In addition, he acquired new powers by declaring himself the minister of foreign and defense affairs. On 15 April 1974, Lieutenant colonel Seyni Kountché led a military coup that ended Diori's rule. He was imprisoned for six years. After his release in 1980, he remained under house arrest until 1987.

After being released from house arrest, he moved to Morocco, where he died on 23 April 1989 at the age of 72.

• Appiah, Kwame Anthony & Gates Jr, Henry Louis: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience: Basic Civitas Books: New York: 1999

v • d • e Heads of State of Niger
Hamani Diori • Seyni Kountché • Ali Saibou • Mahamane Ousmane • Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara • Daouda Malam Wanké • Tandja Mamadou

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Niger
Diori • post abolished, 1960-83  • Oumarou • Algabid • Oumarou • post abolished, 1989-90  • Mahamidou • Cheiffou • Issoufou • Abdoulaye • Cissé • Amadou • Adji • Cissé • Mayaki • Amadou • Oumarou