“This is not a sprint,” Ganiou Soglo justifies the idea of reviving the Renaissance of Benin.
In an interview given to Bip Radio on Sunday, 20th July 2025, Ganiou Soglo, son of former president Nicéphore Soglo, expressed his desire to revive the party The Renaissance of Benin (RB), originally founded by his mother, Rosine Vieira Soglo. This project, nourished by a family obligation and a political vision, remains embryonic but symbolic for now.
SUMMARY
Former Minister of Sports Ganiou Soglo revealed that before her passing, his mother, Rosine Vieira Soglo, entrusted him with a dual mission to look after his father, former president Nicéphore Soglo, and to revive The Renaissance of Benin, a political party founded in 1992. A moral legacy that the youngest member of the Soglo dynasty intends to honor, despite legal and political obstacles.
For Ganiou Soglo, this resurrection is more than a matter of administrative procedures. “The Renaissance of Benin, it’s a soul, a vision, a project that has touched millions of Beninese”, he maintained. The party, deeply connected to the Soglo family, long embodied a political current marked by reformism and the memory of post-1990 democratic renewal. His deceased mother and retired father held this torch. He aims to rekindle its flame.
“This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. The issue you just raised, it’s there, but well, me, it’s not… As I told you, I’m not in a sprint”.
A rebirth facing history and legality
However, the enthusiasm displayed by Ganiou Soglo doesn’t mask the complexity of the process. Officially, the RB party underwent a major split in 2017. Its then-president, Léhady Soglo, was expelled, and a congress inaugurated Abraham Zinzindohoué as the first non-Soglo family president. This transition marked a historical break and, to some, an end of an era.
Furthermore, in the current political context, relaunching the party as it previously existed is not straightforward. “Men make laws, others can unmake them”, responded Ganiou Soglo to those who talk about the legal irrevocability of the party’s disappearance.
This return to the grassroots, as suggested by the former minister, marks the beginning of a long journey. He insists on a gradual approach, first based on the “observation” of the still vibrant attachment of the population to the ideologies of the Wézéwé, the affectionate nickname for the Soglos. “It’s not for tomorrow, not for the day after, but it’s a dynamics initiated”, he claims.
“And I believe that, even if we have strategies to get there, you will agree with me that this is neither the place to talk about it. I will do everything to… it will take time, but we will get there. But in the current state of the texts, some would tell you that it’s not obvious, because the RB merged with Griff, a party that currently exists”.
This project, although unclear in its administrative and political outlines, also seems to act as filial loyalty. For Ganiou Soglo, resurrecting The Renaissance of Benin is also about keeping alive the values of solidarity, courage, and social development advocated by his parents. He, however, refuses to reveal his strategies. “It’s neither the place nor the time”, he has added.
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