Senegal in a turbulent zone: temporality and prospective – Courriers Sud

Demonstrations sparked by the conviction of political opponent Ousmane Sonko are shaking Senegal. Around the world, the country of Teranga is unrecognizable. Hence this “Mail” without complacency about what we are, where we come from and where we are going.

Country of democracy, land of hospitality, haven of peace, Senegal suddenly falls into terror. The scuffles between demonstrators and the police left several dead. Shops, banks and gas stations are vandalized. Shops are looted. The universities are ransacked and the homes of several personalities set on fire. Modern infrastructures made with hundreds of billions of investments are out of order.

This sinister picture which is the lot of other regions of the world moves the Senegalese who hold their breath. The media and social networks echo the deadly hostility of politicians and their henchmen. They relay on a daily basis the hate speech of each other calling for insurrection and revolt. The specter of old demons who elsewhere have brought many nations to their knees is surfacing. The worst is to be feared.

IF WE HAVE SLEEPED ON OUR LAURES

Perhaps we have slept on our laurels. Which go back to the fathers who endeavored to found a nation state strongly rooted in our values ​​of peace and complementarity of the different social groups. Interreligious dialogue, joking cousinhood, hospitality recognized in the country on a planetary scale are a living illustration of this.

The translation of this desire for common life within the framework of a state respectful of freedoms and democracy demanded more. It had to be based on our ability to give citizenship its full meaning and fullness in its everyday expression. The same citizenship that confuses the rich, the poor, the city dweller, the rural, the Christian, the Muslim and the pagan in a single mold with regard to the Republic.

At the turn of the alternations of 2000 and 2012, the promises of a rule of law that guarantees justice and individual and collective freedoms were largely aborted. The oppositions which have made these democratic values ​​their profession of faith and their slogans will only use them as long as they rise to power. The executive with its disparaged and denigrated hypertrophy sets itself up as an omnipotent hydra which confines the other institutions to supporting roles. The National Assembly, disconnected from the concerns of the people, is reduced to a registration chamber while justice is under orders. At the very least, she is suspected of practicing in violation of the fundamental principles of fairness and equality of all citizens before the law.

The result of this state of affairs is the emergence of a new class of professional political subscribers present whenever it comes to sharing the cake of power. At the top, the resorts that are conspicuous and detrimental to ethics and good governance could not be more revolting. For young people who play their future at Russian roulette on the paths of emigration. For women who die giving birth for lack of appropriate health facilities. For schoolchildren in temporary shelters; students, unemployed graduates; for workers left behind. A generational discontent that grows and continues to grow as Senegal embarks on a new turning point in its history: the exploitation of hydrocarbons.

MANNA OF FIRE

The gold of Sabodala, the wealth of our coasts, our immense land potential are far from having reduced the misery of cities and countryside. Senegal is still on the World Bank’s list of Heavily Indebted Poor Countries; the famous HIPCs. It makes you wonder if the oil being extracted will make Senegalese gain significant leaps in their quest for well-being. There is no doubt that without strong state institutions that watch over public resources and occasionally punish proven economic crimes, the windfalls in question would be ineffective. Not only that, they will continue to stick in our throats by remaining the breeding ground for our blatant disagreements and our cruel discords.

For the most part, nations rich in fossil fuels have experienced this cynical backstory. They quickly found themselves in the eye of the storm of multinationals, cartels and lobbies who are firing on all cylinders to carve out the bulk of the treasures in question. The third parties who invite themselves on occasion like the “third thief” are all the more to be feared as they are confused with all the threats on the lookout. That is to say the forces of all persuasions which can only operate and prosper in situations of instability, lawlessness and chaos.

IL WE NEED TO BE STRONG

The challenges mentioned above are certainly of equal concern to each other. However, they in no way give rise to pessimism and resignation. Everything will indeed be played on Senegal’s ability to brave the trials to come out great, renewed and invigorated. This is the responsibility to which each Senegalese and each Senegalese are compelled before history and before men.

There is no alternative to this truth. The challenges to our genius, our capacity for resilience and our infinite possibilities are too serious to allow us to stand still. So to speak, it is on the basis of our individual and collective commitment to becoming better and to putting Senegal above all that we will succeed. As befits the great nations who always know how to find in their prodigious progress the resources able to project them farthest in time beyond all contingencies and turbulences.