By: Abdoulie John
The death of Abdoulaye Ba, a second-year medical student at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), has plunged Senegal’s premier academic institution into mourning and sparked urgent calls for deeper reflection on university governance, student welfare, and the handling of dissent.
Ba died on February 9, 2026, during violent clashes between protesting students and security forces on the UCAD campus in Dakar. The protests stemmed from longstanding grievances over delayed financial aid and stipends, which many students rely on as their primary source of support.
Reports indicate chaos on campus, including the use of tear gas by police, injuries on both sides, and allegations of excessive force, with student groups claiming Ba was severely beaten—even tortured—in his residence despite not participating in the demonstrations. Authorities have described the incident as a “tragedy,” launched an investigation, and closed student residences and dining halls until further notice, forcing many to leave campus.
In a compelling op-ed shared with The Alkamba Times, titled “The University Put To Test By A Global Benchmark: Social Conflict And The Need For A Societal ‘Great Leap Forward,'” UCAD Law and Political Science lecturer Ndéye Astou Ndiaye urged stakeholders to move beyond immediate emotions and address the incident’s deeper institutional, political, and human dimensions.
“The situation prevailing in the social campus of UCAD requires an understanding that goes beyond immediate emotion in order to grasp its institutional, political, and human significance in all its complexity,” Ndiaye wrote. She described scenes of students exposed to tear gas—some losing consciousness—as far more than routine university unrest, framing them instead as symptoms of systemic tensions between governance approaches, resource distribution, and channels for expressing collective grievances.
Drawing on sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts, Ndiaye portrayed the university not merely as an educational space but as a key arena inscribed in the political field—one shaped by power relations, representation, and legitimacy. She emphasized UCAD’s role in producing elites, enabling social reproduction, and fostering critical citizenship.
Echoing the words of renowned Pan-Africanist scholar Cheikh Anta Diop—”Educate yourselves, arm yourselves with science to the teeth (…) and seize your cultural heritage”—Ndiaye affirmed that Diop’s vision remains vital. Yet she posed a poignant question: “Is it possible to educate and train in fear and in a more than restrictive environment?”
Ndiaye highlighted the persistence of tragedy in university spaces, noting that Ba’s name now joins those of earlier victims from modest backgrounds: Balla Gaye (2001), Bassirou Faye (2014), and Fallou Sène. She expressed dashed hopes following the PASTEF government’s rise, which had promised a “never again” approach to police interventions on campus.
“The advent of PASTEF government raised hopes that the never again agenda will guide police intervention in the university space,” she observed. “There seemed to be hope that the list of students who had tragically died in violent circumstances would not grow any longer.”
The lecturer stressed the need to protect students from non-educational threats by ensuring proper nutrition, adequate housing, and access to dignified social and academic spaces free from exploitation. Normatively, she insisted on prioritizing students’ training and the safeguarding of their physical and moral integrity.
At its core, Ndiaye argued, the crisis questions the university’s status: Is it a sanctuary for knowledge and autonomous socialization, or merely an extension of routine public control?
She called on authorities to reject short-term fixes in favor of structural reforms that protect student rights, ensure social policy coherence, and address the long-term management of democratic dissent. “The response to these events cannot be limited to short-term measures; it requires structural reflection,” she wrote.
In a stark warning, Ndiaye said: “The way a society treats its youth is a decisive indicator of the quality of its democratic order and its ability to combine authority, justice, and humanity.”
As investigations continue and the UCAD community grapples with loss, Ndiaye’s op-ed has amplified demands for a holistic “great leap forward” in how Senegal’s institutions handle youth, education, and protest—ensuring the temple of knowledge remains a place of hope rather than a recurring site of tragedy.
