Niamey is the very definition of artificiality. Born from some few insignificant villages clumped into a town for the sake of colonial administration, the current Sokoto sultanate occupies the seat of this former capital of French Niger, resting upon the borders to the less devastated parts of West Africa.

The city's story began around the final years of the 20th century. Selected for its proximity to established French ports, Niamey's population boomed during the 1920s after a protracted period of famines and droughts in rural areas, prompting many villagers to flood into the then-scantily populated town. Around the late 1930s, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, the government decided to commence with small-scale urban planning, which created a rough structure of population centers. Around the same time, France also bolstered its Catholic conversion program, which was ineffectual due to the Muslim majority opposing such an intentional effort.

As Paris fell to the grasp of Vichy's fascist ilk, the former control over the Sahara also weakened to irrelevance. Currently, in the complete chaos of this time of trouble, the Amazigh chieftains seized the Aïr Mountains, and as folks continue taking refuge in Niamey, the burden of this thin stretch of land grows ever more taxing.