This paper examines aspects regarding memory and identity in the autobiography of a Nigerien man. Boubou Hama was an intellectual and a politician who actively participated in Niger’s public sphere both before and after independence. Between 1968 and 1969, he published a three-volume autobiography entitled ‘Kotia-Nima’, which directly addressed the political discussions taking place in the context of decolonisation. More particularly, this paper aims to explore how and why Hama thoroughly described his childhood, rooting it in a community depicted as ‘traditional’. In a period of intense contact with the Europeans, the building of identities was a pressing matter in several territories of French West Africa. Hama’s biographical work reveals a tension between cultural nationalism (and the idealisation of African/Nigerien ‘tradition’) and ideas of modernity derived from interactions with European culture. This tension deepened in debates amongst African intellectuals, and between African and European politicians, in the period building up to political independence from Europe. In this context, Niger was in a peculiar position: as one of the poorest ex-colonies, it required continued financial support, but politically it was divided between two separate factions, one supportive of early independence and the other unwilling to sever ties with France. Within this framework, Hama’s account regarding his life’s memories revealed a two-way perspective: it stated an identity, and claimed a particular socio-political position.