Rebels and Legitimacy by Isabelle Duyvesteyn

Author:Isabelle Duyvesteyn [Duyvesteyn, Isabelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780429884139
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2018-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

Case study 2: Urban youth in N’Djaména (Chad)33

Is the situation of urban youth in N’Djaména, Chad, different from that of the Fulani youth in Mali? Chadian urban youth are confronted with multiple problems: high youth unemployment, low quality of education, continual strikes, oppressive government, very expensive and erratic Internet connectivity, general economic crisis, etc. ‘Their’ Chad is ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world.34 These are conditions of life that they no longer accept, which makes their case indeed comparable to that of the Fulani youth, who also realize that the state does not really take care of them.

In 2016,35 President Déby of Chad and his regime faced serious protests by civilians. In October 2016, students were in the streets, burning a fonctionnaire’s car a day, a protest in reaction to the measures taken by the Déby regime, which no longer paid the students’ monthly allowances or the salaries (including the bonuses) of civil servants.36 The reason given was that there is no money in the state’s treasury because of the declining oil prices. The bankruptcy of the state was (and still is) extensively discussed in social media, and also by people in N’Djaména who suffer from the cuts made by the government to deal with the crisis. The situation rouses the anger of citizens who see how, on the other hand, the elites ‘eat’ their money, build huge houses and line their personal pockets. These sentiments, based on real observations, feed into the youth’s anger. This was especially so as this shortage in the state treasury was announced after the fraudulent re-election of the president in April 2016. According to the ‘angry’ youth, Déby had stolen the victory from their own opposition candidates. The four previous elections that Déby won (1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011) were equally criticized for ‘massive electoral irregularities’,37 but events leading up to the 2016 elections, especially roused public anger and youth protests, which continued into 2017.38 One of the reactions of the government was to cut off access to the Internet and block the websites of bloggers, action groups, and so on. The Internet was made accessible again only in December 2016. Despite these measures, the youth managed to continue to connect online, and protests were also organized using SMS and simple voice technologies.

Nevertheless, Chad is hailed publicly for its involvement in the war on terror. It is seen as the only country with an army that is capable of fighting against Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon, and against al-Qaeda in Mali. In June and July 2015, attacks in N’Djaména were ascribed to Boko Haram and were interpreted as being a consequence of the involvement of Chad in the fight against terrorism. Although many of the youth doubted this interpretation, it allowed the government to introduce harsh measures to fight against the perceived terrorist groups. The state launched razzias and arrested some young presumed jihadists.39 In the meantime, these measures and the explanation of the facts were countervailed by young social media users from Chad and the diaspora.

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