Gouverner au-delà des slogans : l'impératif de sortir de l'infantilisme (par Adama Ndiaye)
Governing is an exercise in tragedy. But in Senegal, this exercise has mutated into a historical misunderstanding. The recent unrest at UCAD, punctuated by the atrocious death of student Abdoulaye Ba, is only the final act of a play whose script we ourselves have written: that of a State compelled to be omnipresent, omniscient and, by extension, accountable for everything.
Our relationship with public authorities borders on social infantilism. As psychologist Michel Schneider pointed out in his essay *Big Mother*, we have moved from the Protective State to the Nanny State. "Big Mother no longer commands, she cares. She no longer demands obedience, but compliance. She substitutes care for law."
In this configuration, the state no longer sets rules; it manages emotions. For the Senegalese citizen, the state is a nurturing mother from whom everything is expected: food, housing, a scholarship, and even a solution to every individual tragedy. This abdication of individual responsibility creates an insatiable expectation, which Schneider describes as follows: "The individual no longer wants to be a citizen; they want to be a child whose needs are rights."
This spoiled-child attitude has permeated every aspect of society, creating a veritable free-for-all of extravagant demands where irony vies with tragedy. In Senegal, every profession, every corporation, every neighborhood seems to have its ticket to the "Mother State" counter.
The farmer can't sell his harvest? It's the state's fault. The local craftsman sees his business failing due to lack of profitability? The state must bail him out. Cultural associations are begging for yet another subsidy, while the press itself—let's clean up our own act—expects the government to guarantee its economic survival.
Sometimes it borders on the surreal: recently, in Sébikotane, residents bewildered by "supernatural phenomena" demanded that the government break its indifference. One can already imagine the Council of Ministers working on a decree against djinns or a special intervention brigade against poltergeists. This demand for omniscience has become the norm: from the price of onions to the forces of the unseen, the State is expected to be the universal healer.
While the people are waiting, politicians are the architects of this waiting game. The historic turning point remains the presidency of Abdoulaye Wade. By opening Pandora's box of universal scholarships, he established an unsustainable culture of free education. What was presented as a social measure was in reality a slow-burning poison.
Since then, each successive government, fearing a conflagration, has preferred to apply a band-aid rather than address the underlying problem. The emergency has been dealt with through financial assistance, never through structural reform. The result is clear: 105 billion CFA francs spent on scholarships alone by 2025.
In its quest for power, Pastef adhered to a simplistic approach, exploiting every weakness with the slogan: "It's all Macky's fault." Its leading figure, Ousmane Sonko, appealed to student sentiment with slogans that defied all common sense, only to find himself confronted, once in power, with the same harsh reality.
The example of El Malick Ndiaye, the current Speaker of the National Assembly, is a true lesson in this regard. While in opposition, he did not hesitate to demand the immediate resignation of the then Minister of Transport, Mansour Faye, following a traffic accident. Having himself been appointed to this ministry before assuming the presidency, he was caught up in the irony of fate and the same tragic phenomenon of accidents that no decree can prevent.
The tragic truth of the world is that the state cannot do everything. As the philosopher Leo Strauss reminded us, politics cannot claim perfection without falling into dangerous illusion. "Politics is the domain of opinion, not absolute truth; to claim to definitively solve all human problems is a misjudgment of the human condition itself."
The Senegalese state's powerlessness in the face of precarious living conditions on university campuses or insecurity on the roads is not always a matter of ill will, but rather a question of inherent limitations. The state cannot be a watchdog behind every citizen, an exorcist for every neighborhood, or a banker for every desire.
As long as our politicians continue to promise the impossible to win elections, they will be paving the way for tomorrow's revolts. It's time to move from a nanny state to a responsible state. But for this message of truth about resource scarcity to be heard, leaders must set an absolute example. The state's spending must finally reflect the modest means that students are expected to accept.
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