Verbal and physical violence among the youth in Côte d’Ivoire is the indicator of the next huge problem if nothing is done against it!
On September 19’ 2016, I was at the gate of University Teaching Hospital –CHU– of Cocody when I saw people rushing inside the Health Institute. Having seen much of this for more than a decade, I am accustomed to not giving to panic easily. I enquired what was happening. It turned out two rival student unions of the Félix Houphouët Boigny University of Cocody armed with stones and other cold weapons were fighting each other.
“This is our legacy, we the youth of Côte d’Ivoire” I thought, powerlessly.
On September 19’ 2002, a rebellion broke out in Côte d’Ivoire. Armed men, reportedly trained in neighboring Burkina Faso attacked two major cities of Côte d’Ivoire. Bouaké in the Center and Abidjan the Capital city in the South, were their primary targets.
That day marked a turning point in the history of Côte d’Ivoire. In fact, though the then loyal forces succeeded to fight back the then attackers in Abidjan, Bouaké and other major cities in northern, central and western Côte d’Ivoire were besieged for more than half a decade. The country was divided in several zones: a rebel zone and a loyal (government) zone separated by a buffer zone held by international forces; the UN Blue Helmets and the French army.
Subsequent developments led to major violent fights, meetings, demonstrations and attacks with thousands of young people involved in each side of the divide.
On one side was the Patriotic Movement of Côte d’Ivoire – MPCI – led by a former student leader Soro Guillaume, the first rebel movement which attacked the country. On the other side was the “Jeunes Patriotes” led by another former student leader Blé Goudé which purportedly was defending the country from a “foreign attack”. Both were close friends.
The war caused the internal displacement of millions of people and recorded thousands of casualties. Major disruptions were observed in an already fragile education system. Schools were overcrowded as displaced students added-up to students in schools under government control. An endless series of demonstrations and strikes marked academic years. Students were almost always called into the street to demonstrate and chant against decisions made as part of international negotiations to end the war. Those demonstrations were opportunities to abuse and threaten foreigners, northerners and then opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.
To say the less, whereas thousands of young people were witnessing indescribable atrocities and being recruited into the war in rebel zones, their counterparts in government zones were being initiated to hatred, in both side at the expense of their education and socialization. This is the “generation of shock”, a post traumatic generation of young people who act and react only to violence. A whole generation of young people in Côte d’Ivoire is prone to violence. A 2010 post-election which claimed 3000 lives was but a slight demonstration of the level of cynicism the youth in Côte d’Ivoire are up to.
Verbal and physical violence among the youth in Côte d’Ivoire is the indicator of the next huge problem if nothing is done against it!
Seniorako 