The promise of Senegal is not the attempt by its youthful President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to impose price control over staple foods and essential commodities: rice, bread, cement and fertilizer, to curb inflation.
Spiralling cost of living appears a global crisis; and any measure to make things more bearable must be appreciated. It’s a moot point, however, if price control ever works. From reports, however, the latest Senegalese attempt would appear more of subsidy to modulate high prices, than outright price control in its harsh form.
By it, the government would let go of its earnings, in customs duty on (food and essential commodity) imports, to the tune 53.3 billion CFA (US$ 87 million). Well, we’ll see as it goes. But price control hardly works anywhere.
Again, that’s not the promise of Senegal. Rather, it’s in its youthful president as a champion of legitimate power; contrasted to at least two of Senegal’s neighbours: Mali and Burkina Faso, preening poster boys of youths as romantic power robbers.
President Faye is 44. Mali’s junta head, Assimi Goita is 40 years. Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traore, an Army Captain, is even six years younger at 34.
Unlike Goita and Traore that betrayed their country’s sacred trust, using legitimate arms to grab illegitimate power, Faye was part of a movement that, against all odds, pushed, campaigned for, and won democratic power.
Of course, winning power is the easier part, no matter how daunting. The real do is to deliver, which President Faye now tries to do with the food subsidy cum price control.
Unlike his Mali and Burkinabe pair, however, he doesn’t have to don ludicrous camouflage and over-worked military gears, just to put some sheen over power robbery by state arms, pure and simple.
Faye, as elected president, is also commander-in-chief. If he chooses, he can clad himself in ceremonial military wear, and it would still all be graceful and legitimate.
At the beginning of that power rascality in Nigeria, Wole Soyinka, in the final, closing phrase of his “Jero’s Metamorphosis”, put down those comics as ‘desk generals’. “After all,” dapper prophetic swindler Jero quipped, “it’s the fashion these days to be a desk general!”
The inimitable Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo (God bless his soul!) was even more clinically dismissive: “Our Generals are coup heroes” — and that at the height of that rascality!
The promise of Faye, therefore, is weaning the thieving power youths of Mali and Burkina Faso from romanticizing power procured by the barrel of the gun. Their contemporary next door is showing youths can be less knee-jack in their thinking.
Sooner than later, Mali’s Goita will morph into a socio-economic goiter on Mali’s neck, with dire political consequences. Only a counter-gun can remove him. An army power grab seldom ends well.
Even if Faye falters, the next election is virtually by the corner. So, no fundamental damage is done. Youths can take power by the depth of their intellect, not as hare-brained power bums, hiding behind army uniforms.
Faye is a living example.
•This article was first published on June 18, 2024
