By Paul Ejime
Senegal prides itself as a country of “Teranga,” or hospitable people.
Dakar, March 22, 2024 – Until its recent political tensions and uncertainty over the rescheduling of the presidential election from Feb.25 to March 24, 2024, and President Macky Sall’s later jettisoned third-term plan, the country held hope as the anchor of political stability and democracy in the politically restive West Africa.
In the 15-nation ECOWAS region, Senegal and Cabo Verde are also the only countries that have not experienced a military coup.
West Africa has earned itself the dubious reputation and sobriquet of the “coup belt or coup zone” with almost a dozen failed and successful coups from 2020 and four ECOWAS member States under military dictatorships.
Even so, religious tolerance remains very much evident among Senegal’s estimated 18 million people, and it is one of the few Muslim-dominated nations, that observe more Christian holidays than the Vatican.
Similarly, the former French colony that gained independence in 1960 under the leadership of renowned poet and African Socialist President Sedar Senghor, leads other ECOWAS member States in gender political inclusion.
Although civil society and women’s advocacy groups would want the country to do more in terms of gender parity.
With Muslims accounting for about 95% of the population, Senegal is home to Touba, in the centre of the country, and arguably the most popular Islamic pilgrimage destination in Africa.
At some 170 kilometers east of Dakar, the nation’s capital, Touba was established in the 20th Century by Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba, a highly revered founder of Senegal’s Mourid Islamic brotherhood.
The city has grown rapidly around the tomb of its respected founder to become the spiritual centre of Senegal.
With an estimated population of 1.8 million, Senegal’s second largest city after Dakar (census 2023), Touba boasts one of the largest and most beautiful Mosques in West Africa.
It hosts one of the largest annual pilgrimage festivals on the African continent and matters in Senegal’s political equation, such as the presidential election on Sunday.
Ordinary citizens and politicians alike have faith in Marabouts and Touba has the largest concentration of them.
Administratively, Touba is under Mbacke Department in the Diourbel region.
It has its unique governance system based on strict Islamic rules and regulations, including dress codes for men and women.
In Touba, women are required to be in their veils.
Short skirts and trousers are prohibited, while men are required to be properly dressed in no sagging trousers or body-revealing clothes.
Women activist groups and advocates of liberal Western democracy might have issues with Touba’s strict administrative rules, but there are no indications that these would change anytime soon.
The Grand Mosque of Dakar is the largest in Senegal. However, the Great Mosque of Touba, which was completed in 1963, with distinctive features such as the towering minaret and multiple blue and green domes, continues to dominate the City’s skyline.
It is open to everyone but with some restrictions on non-Muslims at certain times. (GBN)
