Senegal disparities…: So that no one ignores!

Travels carried out in the interior of the country in particularly in Sine, Baol, Saloum and quite recently in Ndiambour, allowed me to perceive the striking social inequalities which exist between the capital Dakar and these localities deep in Senegal. It’s as if there were two Senegal: Senegal people who live easily, having access to almost everything they need; and that of “marginalized” people who need almost everything!

There, people hitchhike or wait for the few transport cars that pass with an interval of several minutes. Sometimes they have to walk several kilometers to do their jobs.

Here is the preference to be transported: we have a wide choice between Dakar Dem Dikk bus, TATA, “Fast Car”, “Ndiaga Ndiaye”, taxis… and private vehicles.

There, women draw water from the well, mill millet.

Here, there are faucets and there are mills and all kinds of machines that make life easier for the housewife.

Here, everyone has electricity, there, some have, others, very many, do not have it.

There, women give birth with all the difficulties, sometimes transported by cart towards the nearest health facility (which is sometimes very far).

Here, the husband’s taxi or car is available at any time of the night, and one can also prefer hospitals.

Here, we prepare the meal in the kitchen, there, I saw some families cook outside in a tent with wood.

And yet, it is the people here who grumble the most, who occupy the media daily to claim this or that.

Despite all these difficulties experienced daily, people talk, smile, go about their business as if nothing had happened.

It’s difficult, even if they do not say it. Only they have endurance. They remain positive and hope that tomorrow will be better. They are brave ladies and men who deserve all the assistance and consideration from those who lead us.

With the discovery of oil and gas deposits whose operation will generate revenue in the trillions (we talk about 16000 billion CFA francs over 30 years), the situation must really change. There must be no more women who die by giving birth, for lack of means; more students studying in temporary shelters; more students killed because claiming their scholarships; no more teacher strikes that paralyze the education system because they claim compensation; more villages lacking water, electricity or sanitation facilities; more people who die of diseases because they can not afford medical expenses.

It is time for the slogan “Senegal of all and for all” and the sober and virtuous governance so much sung by the regimes that have succeeded one another to come true.

Must take this era where a minority of the people (the President of the Republic, his family and loved ones, ministers and their families, deputies, directors general…) share the largest shares of our wealth, leaving the people live in difficulty and make us believe that we are very poor.

No! We are not poor as they claim. They are our leaders lacking patriotism, who impoverish us and impoverish our dear Senegal.