Skip to main content

As Senegal Takes Control Of France’s Military Bases On Her Soil, Any Lessons For Nigeria And Beyond?

April 28, 2010
April 4 is officially recognized as the day Senegal gained her independence from France. This year,  the national celebrations of Senegal’s 50th independence anniversary were marked by two significant events. The first event was the April 3 announcement by President Abdoulaye Wade that, effective immediately, that is to say April 4, 2010, Senegal had decided to take sovereign control of the French military bases  there, while the second was the unveiling of a controversial commemorative monument – le Monument à la Renaissance Africaine ( The African Renaissance Monument ). 
The monument is a giant bronze statue depicting a man fleeing from a volcano while holding an infant in his left hand and a scantly clad woman on his right one. The structure is supposed to symbolize in the eyes of Wade and his administration, African renaissance after centuries of slavery and colonization.

An optimistic view posits that what many commentators  are hailing as Wade’s courageous act of ‘liberation’ can be likened to a bold and deft strategy, a stroke of enlightened statesmanship. By a gesture of executive declaration which has implied a unilateral abrogation of an existing treaty which allowed a former colonial master to station permanent military bases on Senegalese soil, the authorities in Dakar are signaling to the citizens of their country that the time has come for a thorough soul-searching on the part of Senegal and her people even if by that presidential move, Wade has  invariably put Senegal on a collusion course with Paris.  President Wade’s diplomatic coup de théâtre is bound to please the more nationalistic segments of Senegalese society who feel that after five decades of nominal independence, the time is ripe for the severing of the “cordon ombilical” that has historically tied French-speaking ex-colonies in Africa to the Palais de l’Élysée  in a relationship structure that is considered lopsided - a consecration of France’s cultural, diplomatic, military as well as economic hegemony over much of Francophone Africa. A complacent reading of Wade’s pronouncement of April 3 regarding the future of French military bases in Senegal holds that it is a welcome development, that is to say that it suggests the laying of a policy framework that younger generations can build on. And, of course, one should not forget the potential lessons for the rest of Francophone Africa and beyond in a geopolitical context that is witnessing a troubling perpetuation, if not amplification , of external imperialist footholds in the continent. A case in point is America’s increasing interference in the internal politics of Nigeria.

A more sober understanding of President Wade’s posture concerning France’s military presence in Senegal and  his administration’s construction of a giant emblem dedicated to Africa’s renaissance should consider that although the  two happenings are inter-related in the common political message they seek to convey, the intrinsic contradictions underlying them do unfortunately act as an abiding cautionary tale.

While some analysts of the events surrounding Senegal’s 50th independence anniversary celebrations are apparently hampered by the linguistic barrier ( where translations are not available ) that prevents them from having  access to the statements by both the Senegalese and the French authorities, not to mention the various press reports around them, others have simply sought to minimize the full import of those statements in the context of the realities on the ground.

On the critical matter of France’s military bases in Senegal , please allow me to reproduce here what Paris has, amongst other things, said. My readers are requested to pay close attention to the discourses by the French and the Senegalese, respectively.
"...Les discussions se poursuivent" , a expliqué Laurent Teisseire le porte-parole du ministère français de la Défense, précisant qu'elles portaient sur "les modalités précises de la coopération et notamment l'éventualité du maintien d'un dispositif français plus modeste". Celui-ci prendrait "la forme d'une plate-forme opérationnelle de coopération à vocation régionale" et "découlera de ce qui aura été déterminé d'un commun accord avec le Sénégal" ( Culled from Le Nouvel Observateur ).

What the French are saying is that discussions are continuing with their Senegalese counterparts on a military pact that would be region-oriented and in which France is expected to play a pivotal role. While France is explicitly stating that there is going to be a reduced French military presence in Senegal in terms of the number of  French personnel stationed there (Some reports in the French press have mentioned between 300 and 700 French soldiers, from the initial 1, 200-strong force ), that does not necessarily imply any diminishing of the various roles those bases have historically played. Furthermore, according to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, his country would still be engaged in some form of bi-lateral  cooperation with Senegal as well as having to participate in regional military arrangements which Wade is said to favour and which are aimed at enhancing the stability of the West African sub-region. Again, le Nouvel Observateur: ‘Cette annonce pose la question du devenir de la coopération militaire entre Paris et Dakar. Concernant les effets concrets le président sénégalais est resté vague. "S'agissant des délais de libération de ces bases, je demande au Premier ministre et au chef d'état-major général de l'armée d'entamer des pourparlers avec la partie française".
Dans un message adressé vendredi à son homologue sénégalais, Nicolas Sarkozy, absent des cérémonies du cinquantenaire, avait abordé ce sujet sensible. "La France reste naturellement disposée à poursuivre, au Sénégal, une politique de coopération militaire, bilatérale et régionale, en soutien à la stabilité de la sous-région et à la montée en puissance du dispositif panafricain de sécurité auquel je vous sais très attaché", avait-il écrit. ‘

It is interesting to note that whereas France has tried to spell out what is likely going to be the nature of its military presence in Senegal and the sub-region, the Senegalese authorities have provided relatively few details beyond the declaration by President Wade that he has directed his Prime Minister and the head of the army to begin discussions with the relevant French authorities regarding his decision to close France’s  military bases. To what extent can one seriously talk of a new beginning when the French seem determined to maintain some military presence, albeit a “token’ one? And a pertinent question thus arises: Beyond the public posturing and the grandiose rhetoric of a putative African renaissance, does President Wade or any other African leader for that matter have the guts, if not the philosophical vision, to help shake off the unbearable yoke of alien political and economic stranglehold on our hapless populations?
 
Remarkably, even if it appears emotionally gratifying to Wade and his supporters, what should more appropriately be described as a ‘rationalization’ of France's military presence in Senegal will not necessarily translate, at least in the short term, to any loss of diplomatic leverage which Sarkozy's country has usually had on Senegal and other geographical entities that still maintain relatively strong umbilical relations with France. Importantly, the political will on the part of the French to use its military might in the pursuit of what it perceives as its national interests remains intact. As indicated in the media, France will continue to boast of a relatively awesome military machine in and around the African continent. Paris will still maintain three permanent bases in Djibouti ( 2, 900 soldiers ), Gabon  (980 ) and Reunion ( Over 1, 460 soldiers ). This is apart from those in Chad ( 900 ), Central African Republic (200 ), Côte d’Ivoire ( 900 ) and elsewhere. As we all know, contrary to the somewhat misleading reports by Le Nouvel Observateur and other media outfits, the French military presence in Africa has historically been deployed to prop up despotic and not-so-despotic regimes in places like Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Togo, Central African Republic ( CAR ), Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ), and Cape Verde. Also, in the case of Nigeria, France has used the pretext of its nebulous defence treaties with some of these countries to exercise blackmail on Abuja as was the case in the Bakassi debacle. And even without its formidable military presence, France has always demonstrated a lukewarm attitude to the idea of greater economic and political integration among African countries and especially in the West African sub-region where it sees Nigeria as a rival not to be trusted. Crucially, Francophone African leaders belonging to what France has traditionally considered its zone of influence have quite often shared France’s suspicions, if not its outright hostility, toward what they perceive as Nigeria’s economic clout in the region. To a large extent, Senegal’s obstructionist stance during the deliberations leading to the creation of ECOWAS was informed by France’s anti-Nigeria reflexes. While the late Senghor regarded as normal the projection of France’s cultural, linguistic and economic dominance in Africa and elsewhere, he was at best ambivalent regarding the notion of greater regional integration with Nigeria playing a dominant role.
 
It has to be noted that under President Wade, there has never been any serious questioning of France's military and diplomatic hegemony in what has historically been referred to as France's "chasse gardée" or exclusive preserve in Africa. Significantly, Wade has consistently opposed a regional military structure in the West African sub-region that will involve Nigeria - the bête noire of France's neo-colonialist mindset - , preferring, instead, a nondescript and ineffectual "Francophone" set-up that will not entail any real weakening of France's dominion over its former colonies.
 
Now, on the occasion of the official celebrations marking Senegal's 50th independence anniversary about three weeks ago, much of the Senegalese citizenry complained about its poor living conditions. A recurrent theme was the fact that under Wade's nose, and in a situation of mass unemployment and generalised misery, the fish stocks in Senegal's territorial waters have suffered the real threat of depletion occasioned by mindless and unregulated pillaging by foreign concerns. Influenced by a worsening socio-economic context, hundreds of thousands of Senegal’s young people have been forced into undertaking illegal and hazardous journeys to Europe and North America, supposedly in search of the proverbial greener pastures. And as if to further drive home the national malaise, in what some see as a show of executive insouciance, Wade and his administration unveiled a huge bronze monument that is estimated to have cost over 20 million dollars! Both the organised opposition and the people in general have described the African Renaissance Monument as wasteful. On its part, the Muslim clergy in Dakar has characterized the imagery of a scantly dressed woman as un-Islamic. Feminist organizations have denounced what they perceive as a demeaning portrayal of the African woman who has often provided for her family in much of Africa today. But by far the most damning controversy around the renaissance monument has to do with the report that President Wade and his family will corner about 35 % of all the income that the monument is expected to generate as a choice tourist attraction ! The opposition parties and their representatives are calling it a scam because both the monument and the land on which it is erected are said to belong to the Senegalese people. This controversy is a serious indictment of Wade and his administration. It should be mentioned that this latest gaffe by Wade is coming on the heels of another scandal in which close allies of the president reportedly offered a “gift” of about 150, 000.00 American dollars to the outgoing IMF resident representative in Dakar. When the public got wind of that misdeed which reportedly happened late last year, Wade and his entourage futilely tried to justify their attempted corruption by saying that it is part of African custom to offer gifts to visitors! The IMF operative in question , Alex Segura, is said to have returned the monetary “gift” in question to the Senegalese treasury.

With his independence anniversary address to the nation, President Wade may have tried to set the tone for other  celebrations elsewhere on the continent but it is doubtful that his grand gesture regarding France’s military bases in Senegal can be said to signal any meaningful attempt on the part of Africa’s leaders to question the current predominance of the French in their respective countries. The continent’s predicament is being compounded by a worrisome abdication on the part of national elites whose spinelessness and greed have been primary factors contributing to an unhealthy resurgence of preponderance by alien forces in our politics. On the one hand, there are France’s neo-colonialist designs as represented by Nicolas Sarkozy whose infamy was further established with his racist and demeaning July 26, 2007 speech at the University of Dakar which envisions African renaissance from the point of view of the cultural and political subjugation of the ‘noble savage’ to Europe.  On the other, there are the Americans whose imperialist delusions or fantasies have historically led to the kind of adventurism that has left national polities in worse shape, the official pro-democracy rhetoric notwithstanding. In the face of the ideological and political onslaught from Europe, America and, to a lesser extent, Asia, Abdoulaye Wade seems to be proposing politics as usual with his reliance on dynastic succession in the manner of Togo or Gabon. When Senegal’s president makes what should be an important outing in the company of a deeply anti-social dinosaur like the former Nigerian tyrant called Obasanjo, he sends the wrong message to his country and the rest of the world. This essay is a clarion call for a new consciousness on the part of our people concerning the prevailing tyrannies from without who are colluding with desperate and unpatriotic local tin gods and in the process, are helping sustain the untenable status quo. With Goodluck Jonathan looking more and more like another Paul Biya and as the infeudation ( vis-à-vis external influences ) of Nigeria’s crop of post independence elites continues to ravage the national patrimony as well as the people’s collective psyche in  a way that reminds one of Cameroon’s servile national leadership during the Ahidjo era, Nigerians and Africans in general are advised to re-read the seminal book by the late Cameroonian writer, Mongo Beti. It bears the apt title “Main basse sur le Cameroun”. A pragmatic rendition of the title would be “The Plundering Of Cameroon”. Significantly, the book was initially banned by the French authorities.

 ( [email protected] )

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });