ransacking of public universities in Senegal during the riots which followed the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to two year’s jail term for “sexual lewdness.”
At a time when the Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis (North) is renovating its library thanks to international fund-raising, we are confronted with the sad reality of the violent attack which did not spare the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (West).
Part of the institution, including its faculties, the central library and archives, has been burnt to the ground. We are deeply saddened by these acts, as well as by the loss of human life, and we firmly condemn them. We demand that light be shed on all the excesses of these recent events.
Protest is a right, and demonstrations are an important form of civic voice for expressing concerns and demands.
The university is a temple of knowledge, a melting pot, a place where knowledge, culture and religion mingle, and where knowledge is produced and disseminated. It’s a place for sharing and exchange. It’s a place to rise and grow, to connect with the rest of the world on an even keel.
A university library is much more than a simple building made of bricks and cement, filled with books. It’s a symbol of knowledge, discovery and progress. It houses a vast collection of resources, from printed books to academic journals, newspapers, historical archives and electronic databases. It’s a place where students, researchers and community members can access a wealth of valuable and varied information.
The archives, meanwhile, are the guardians of our history. They contain original documents and precious records that document our past, our achievements and our challenges. They are essential for academic research, preserving our cultural heritage and building a deeper understanding of our society.
It is therefore our imperative duty to protect our universities from all forms of aggression, whether internal or external, in order to preserve the essence and uniqueness that animate these institutions. Financial resources can contribute to the restoration of material goods, but they can never restore the soul that permeates these places and gives them their true value and meaning.
History records that, during the siege of Leningrad by the German army (September 1941 – January 1944), students and staff of the National Institute of Industrial Plants, renamed today in honor of the famous
Russian geneticist Nikolai Vavilov, chose to starve to death rather than consume even one peanut seed from among the multitudes of seeds from Africa, America and Europe stored in the institute’s seed bank.
History will remember the tragic events of June 1, 2023, when Senegalese committed an irreparable act by setting fire to faculties, the area around the central library and the archives of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, containing administrative files, Master’s, DEA and Master’s dissertations, doctoral theses, journals and academic
contributions, the fruit of the work of several generations of students.
The author Mohamed Moustapha Fall is President of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)