Senegal, long quoted as an example for its human values, its peaceful democracy and the quality of its elites, today is going through a period of disturbing regression. Far from being an isolated case in a changing world, our country has internal particularities that seriously slow down its development. Through the crumbling of values, the education crisis and the excessive politicization of governance, the symptoms of a society losing bearings appear. It is urgent to take a lucid look at these realities so as not to compromise the future of future generations.
The crumbling of fundamental values: the mirror of a disoriented youth
Senegal is above all a country of believers. Through Islam and Christianity, two monotheistic religions which call for the fear of God, the righteousness and the service of the common good, the moral foundations of the country have long shaped a respectful, disciplined and united society. However, this fragile balance is threatened today. Daily observation, in particular through the behavior of young people on social networks, in particular Tiktok, reveals a profound change of mentality. Between vulgar challenges, glorification of violence, provocation and frantic materialism, youth seems to evolve in a space where the quest for visibility takes precedence over the quest for values.
Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook have become real windows of a company losing bearings, where the search for the sensational prevails over respect for oneself and others.
Modesty, formerly a pillar of education, gives way to exhibitionism; modesty is replaced by vanity; The effort by the illusion of an easy and immediate success.
This disintegration of benchmarks is not trivial. A society that loses its spiritual and moral anchoring becomes vulnerable to all drifts, social and political.
Without an ethical compass, development becomes a mirage, because no material infrastructure can replace the solidity of souls and consciences.
2. The education crisis: the great silent defeat
If education has long been the pride of Senegal, it is today one of its greatest failures. Three major dimensions illustrate this degradation:
2.1. Intellectual impoverishment
The level of general culture, intellectual curiosity and taste for effort has declined greatly. There are many young people who abandon studies early, convinced that school is no longer a way to success.
According to statistics, almost 40% of young people aged 15 to 24 in Senegal have not finished the fundamental cycle, accentuating intellectual poverty which seriously limits their ability to adapt to an increasingly demanding world.
2.2. Ignorance of institutions
The ignorance of the operating mechanisms of a rule of law is worrying.
Many young people do not know how the National Assembly works, or what is the role of local authorities, or even what their fundamental rights are. However, a citizen who does not know the laws is a citizen unable to defend his freedoms or to contribute effectively to democratic construction.
2.3. Vulnerability in the face of manipulations
Deprived of a solid basis of knowledge, young people become easy prey for all forms of manipulation: politics, religious, economic.
Propaganda finds fertile land in ignorance; The unrealistic promises appeal to where the critical thinking is absent. By harmonizing these three points, it becomes obvious that without quality education, no lasting progress is possible.
Knowledge is not only an individual success tool, but also a rampart against collective drifts.
3. The weight of governance turned towards itself: the deterioration of the standard of living
To this moral and educational crisis is added the failure of governance.
Political priorities often seem far from the basic needs of the population.
Standard of living: persistent poverty
Despite sometimes positive macroeconomic growth rates, nearly 37, 8% of the Senegalese population live below the poverty line according to the ANSD (2023).
This structural poverty means limited access to sufficient food, decent housing and viable economic opportunities.
Health: major challenges
The health system remains underdeveloped:
• Senegal has 0, 8 doctor for 10,000 inhabitants, well below the threshold recommended by the WHO.
• Hospital infrastructure, especially in rural areas, are insufficient and often poorly equipped.
• Access to essential drugs remains a challenge for many citizens.
Education: a broken engine
With an literacy rate of 57, 7% (Ansd, 2023), Senegal is still far from reaching the necessary standards for competitive development worldwide.
The lack of trained teachers, recurring strikes and insufficient infrastructure still slows down access to quality education.
Inflation: untenable pressure
After reaching a historic peak of 14, 10% in November 2022, the inflation rate in Senegal came down to 1, 80% in January 2025, against 0, 80% in December 2024.
Despite this decline, the cumulative effects remain visible: basic foodstuffs have seen their prices explode by 20 to 30% in recent years, weakening households permanently.
Conclusion: the urgency of a collective start
The blocking of development in Senegal is not the result of chance.
It results from a toxic combination between loss of values, educational collapse and governance disconnected from popular realities.
Faced with this situation, there is only one way: a national start.
Finding our ethical benchmarks, investing massively in quality education and requiring governance centered on humans, such is the only possible trajectory to save the future of our youth and guarantee truly sustainable development.
The fate of Senegal is not sealed. It depends on our ability to understand the errors of the present to better build the hope of tomorrow.
ADDENDUM
Traditionally, a newly installed diet is glorified to create jobs. With this power, it is the opposite. Is President Bassirou Diomaye Faye really informed of the practices of his ministers? While it places, this Thursday, April 24, 2025, employment and employability at the center of national priorities, calling for unit to reduce unemployment which reaches 20, 3%, its Minister of Communication signed, barely two days earlier, on April 22, 2025, a decree heavy with consequences.
Under the pretext of applying the press code, this decree requires the immediate judgment of the dissemination, publication and sharing of content for all so -called “non -compliant” media.
Concretely: hundreds of young journalists, technicians, creators of content are threatened with unemployment, in an already proven sector.
Brutal paradox: While the Head of State promises to create employment, his government organizes, in silence, massive closures which suffocate private initiative and kill the creativity of young people. And the CNRA in all of this? What is his role? Does the minister really know what is his responsibility?
How to build a sovereign Senegal, fair and prosperous by precipitating your youth in unemployment and by muffling your talents?
A power that fears journalists is a power that doubts its own legitimacy.
Ramatoulaye Seck
Journalist
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