THE ARTS: A REFLECTION ON THE SOCIO-HISTORIC RESEARCH TRIP TO SENEGAL (DAKAR, GORRE & CAYTOU)

A REFLECTION ON THE SOCIO-HISTORIC RESEARCH TRIP TO SENEGAL (DAKAR, GORRE & CAYTOU)

I was one of the University of The Gambia students who on the 07^thof February 2023 under the tutelage of Dr Ensa Touray and Mr Baboucarr Mboob of the University of the Gambia left for Senegal in our quest to make a socio-historic fact finding with the theme CHEIKH ANTA DIOP: PAN AFRICANIST IN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP.

On the first day, as planned, we had a night rest at Diourbel, the capital of Diourbel region situated in the east of Thies. Relevantly to the theme, Thieytou, also spelled as Thiaytou, Tiahitou or Caytou as the birthplace of Cheikh Anta Diop and a place well known to be the host of the mausoleum of Cheikh Anta is also located in Diourbel. The village is 154 kilometres away from Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.

On the following day afternoon, which was the 8^th of February 2023, we visited Mausolee de Cheikh Anta Diop (the Mausoleum of Cheikh Anta Diop) in Thieytou which was inaugurated exactly 15 years ago at the time of our visit by the then Senegal Minister of Culture, Par Monsieur Mame Birame Diouf. We were hosted there by a relative of Cheikh Anta Diop in the person of Modou Mballow and he chronologically narrated to us what he knows about Cheikh Anta Diop.

According to Mr Mballow, Cheikh Anta was born in 1923 and died in 1986 as captured on many documents. He also posited that Cheikh Anta completed the Quran at an early age before attending the conventional French school, and that he was from a religious family background. He further went on to narrate the relationship between Cheikh Anta’s grandfather and the famous Serign Touba, and the unexpected meeting of Cheikh Anta and Serign Touba.

Contrary to what we were later told by Professor Dem of UCAD history department during a seminar at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Cheikh Anta was buried in Thieytou because his children asserted that while they were going through the files of their father, they saw Cheikh Anta’s diary on which he chose Thieytou to be his burial place.

Mr Mballow further narrated to us the relationship between Cheihk Anta and former President Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal and France as the most influential country over Senegal. From him we learnt that despite all the brilliant works and achievements of Cheikh Anta he was deliberately marginalized and given no space to properly utilize his sharp inventory ideas in Senegal due to Senghor and France’s selfish interest. According to him, Cheikh Anta was also not given the permission to lecture at the university of Dakar in Senegal, a university which was later named after Cheikh Anta Diop himself in 1987 (months after his death). However, Cheikh Anta was later given a small store in University of Dakar (now Cheikh Anta Diop University) which he turned to a laboratory.

During his work at Cheikh Anta Diop University (University of Dakar by then), Cheikh Anta still suffered from heavy marginalization as potential aids, partners and friends all chose to distance themselves from him for the fear of either losing their jobs or to be put in the red book of the government of Senegal and France. His wages too were cut off purposely to frustrate and reduce his pace, but he still worked on his dreams. It was an armless fight against Cheikh Anta Diop in his quest to see a better Senegal and a better Africa.

It was indeed a poignant moment hearing from Mr Mballow about how Cheikh Anta Diop was fought for reasons parallel to the interest of his own country. Senegal was never lucky to effectively benefit from the brilliant ideas of Cheikh Anta which was one of the greatest lost in the history of Senegal. This proves the truism that some parts of history are bitter. In fact, it is widely believed that the truth about Cheikh Anta and his works were well known after his demise.

According to Mr Mballow, the entire life of Cheikh Anta Diop was not about leaving luxury for his children, but to educate and share knowledge especially in anthropology. After answering the questions that were raised by some of us (students), Mballow concluded his narration by thanking us and encouraging us to read the books written by Cheikh Anta Diop for more information.

Considered as the greatest historian in the absence of racial biases, Cheikh Anta’s famous written books include: Civilization or Barbarism, Precolonial Black Africa, and The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality. In these books, he challenges the authenticity of the Western version of black history and gave convincing evidences to substantiate his claims against the European versions of Ancient history. In his book entitled The African Origin of Civilization, he posits that “Ancient Egypt was a negro civilization. The history of black Africa will remain suspended in the air and cannot be written correctly until African historians dare to connect it with the history of Egypt. The African historian who evades the problem of Egypt is neither modest nor objective nor unruffled. He is ignorant, cowardly and neurotic. The ancient Egyptians were negroes. The moral fruit of their civilization is to be counted among the assets of the Black world.”

However, it is noteworthy that Cheikh Anta’s works were written in French and translated to English.

As we were set to depart from Mausoleum of Cheikh Anta, a lady (Haddijatou Gueye) and a man (Nikos Nyorr) were introduced to us as young Pan Africanists that have strong admiration for Cheikh Anta Diop. According to them, they travelled all the way from Dakar to Thieytou by foot to pay homage to Cheikh Anta Diop on his anniversary. The duo claimed that it took them six days to reach Thieytou by foot (from 1^st February, 2023 to 6^th February, 2023) covering a distance of 154 kilometres. We were perplexed to know that initially it was an individual who did paid homage to Cheikh Anta in the same fashion, but the number now rose to more than 50 people from different destinations according to Mr Mballow. The duo during their speech encouraged us to be united as Africans and promote oneness among ourselves while they frown at the poor integration within Africa.

After spending over an hour and a half at the Mausoleum of Cheikh Anta Diop, we then left for Dakar. Unfortunately, we arrived in Dakar late due to mechanical challenges along the way.

On the 9^th of February 2023, we paid a visit to University of Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) where we specifically visited the library. As one of the biggest libraries in one of the biggest Universities in West Africa, it is also well equipped with both printed and digital equipment. Named after the historian, physicist, anthropologist, Egyptologist, politician and writer, Cheikh Anta Diop, the University of Cheikh Anta Diop is one of the most populated universities in Africa.

On the same day, which was the 9^th of February 2023, we had a seminar with three Professors from the University of Cheikh Anta Diop history department in the persons of Professor Dem, Professor Secka and Professor Faal and Dr Ensa Touray of the University of the Gambia. The panellists presented on the biography of Cheikh Anta Diop, the context of his work and the Senegambia integration. The seminar which was attended by students from both the University of the Gambia and the University of Cheikh Anta Diop was conducted in English and Wolof. Questions and comments were made by the various students during the seminar.

On the 10^th of February 2023, we visited Le Monument de la Renaissance Africaine (The African Renaissance Monument) which was designed by Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby and built by Mansudae Overseas Projects from North Korea. The two years long project (2008-2010) was inaugurated on the 3^rd of April 2010 by President Abdoulaye Wade whose initiation it was. The statue is 52 metres tall made up of bronze on a hill known as Collins des Mamelles in the Quakam suburb of Dakar depicting a man, woman and a child emerging from a volcano. In defence of his initiation, Wade posited that the statue symbolizes the triumph of African liberation from centuries of ignorance, intolerance, and racism, and he believe it will rival the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower in Paris as a tourist attraction centre.

The monument led to a huge controversy emanated from the oppositions of Abdoulaye Wade at the time of his presidency. The oppositions frowned at the cost of the project, the style, and the direction of the generated revenue. Built at a tune of 27 million US dollars, was criticized by a one time deputy opposition leader, Ndeye Fatou Toure who betold the monument as an “economic monster and a financial scandal in the context of the current economic crisis”. The statue which is a semi-nude was also criticized by various people for its nudity. Opposition figures have also criticised Wade’s efforts in claiming intellectual property rights (35%).

On the 11^th of February 2023, we visited Gorre Island, a place described as “a small Island with a big history” by Muhammed Mboge, a native and a tour guide at Gorre Island. The famous Island is 900 metres long, 300 metres large, 8000 kilometres away from the United States of America with a population of about 1500 people. The buildings at the Island were erected by the Portuguese, English Dutch and French at different periods using basalt. The Portuguese were the first to land in the Island in 1444.

Source: Africa Unite Zone (Facebook)

The source of water and electricity in Gorre is in Dakar according to the tour guide (Muhammed), highlighting that it came via pipes albeit the presence of a big generator on the Island. The Island also host the first Catholic Church in Senegal which was built in 1444.

The island is famous for being a former hub of slave trade for four hundred years. Slave-holding warehouses were built on the island for keeping slaves for the arrival of slave ships which comes in every three months. According to Mr Mboge, approximately 20 million left Gorre Island to the Americas as slaves, including men, women, and children and 6 million died along the way. As an unchallenged fact, the conditions of these innocent souls considered as slaves were always inhumane as they await a more inhumane journey to South America, the Caribbean and North America. Humans (slaves) were poorly chained and shackled by their fellow human beings and put in small rooms paying zero attention to their humanity. These slaves who were always naked except for their private parts were allowed to go outside the cells only once a day to attend to their limited needs. Some of the people (slaves) who tend to stand against the maltreatments on them are punished in “punishment cells” which are obviously characterized by discomfort and cruelty to weaken them.

The most poignant and notorious door in the island is “The Door of No Return”. Any child, man or woman who went through the door of no return never returns to their homeland. Small it may be the door represents one of the worst barbarisms in the history of mankind.

Another attractive thing worthy of catching the attention of tourists and researchers in Gorre Island is the big cannon which was owned by the French in their quest to have a full control of Gorre Island and Dakar. The cannon which was believed to have the strength to shut as far as 14 kilometres was once used by the French against an English ship.