Frozen, muzzled, desecrated, disenchanted, deserted, abandoned to itself, derisory, precarious, in advanced decomposition? Yes, the Francophonie is doing very badly! We must refuse to be silent! You have to shake it up quickly, wake it up, save it, resuscitate it, make it love it, make it respect it and make it win!
Permit, with respect, Mr. President Macron and the gentlemen of the French-speaking Heads of State and Government! You will meet on the occasion of the 18e Francophonie Summit, scheduled for Djerba, Tunisia, November 19-20. If you gave up on that peak, hardly anyone would notice. The International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) would continue, as if it did not exist, its painful lethargy, and the earth would continue to turn.
It is time, moreover, to take stock of these summits that have become soporific. Heads of state seem to have better things to do than talk about and take care of the Francophonie, of culture, period. An extraordinary summit for the refoundation of the Francophonie would do the trick better! It would do everyone good. By making progress reports, evaluations concerning the programs and resolutions of your expensive summits for the OIF, already so poor, you would realize the accumulated failures and the vanity of the projects never carried out successfully.
From the geographical, cultural and political space that designated it, the Francophonie, since its birth, has tried to find its place in the economic, scientific, socio-educational, legal, technological and environmental space. In short, she embraced everything, especially a lot of wind. Abdou Diouf, all the same, left marks thanks to his personal aura, his charisma, his thickness as a former head of state, his restful and pleasant civility, but he was too alone to advance the Francophonie on the implementation place of the French-speaking visa.
The problem today is the invisibility of the OIF! For a long, long time, the Francophonie has seemed non-existent: radio silence, television silence, written press silence, political silence, cultural and artistic silence, inaudible voice, muddy image, dead missions. Why did you let such a tragedy play out? The OIF did not deserve it and this beautiful French language, neither, when you measure what it was and the one to whom you entrusted it! Basically, accusing the current secretary general, Louise Mushikiwabo, would be almost unfair. Our respects, Madam! It is those who put it there, who are guilty of everything, the invincible, stainless, phlegmatic warrior and sentinel of Africa, Commonwealth member Paul Kagame, understood! And come what may !
The engine is not broken, it is dead
La Francophonie made us dream as it had been dreamed at birth by Léopold Sédar Senghor, Diori Hamani and Habib Bourguiba. The French language, this so beautiful woman, came to live in a geographical area, Africa, where she is almost better than at home. Africa takes care of it better than France, but it cannot do everything on its own! The consequence is that the voice of the Francophonie has become almost voiceless, placed as if in isolation. We are deeply concerned about this.
Your air-conditioned and cozy summits are a long way from this unique field of action which is the future of the Francophonie! Your next summit should rather skip steps with an exceptional agenda, the aim of which would be to renew, as a matter of urgency, the senior management of the General Secretariat of the OIF! In truth, that is the urgency. The engine is not broken. He is dead. The car is not to be towed. She needs to be changed.
With respect, we encourage you to take another look at our comatose, almost dying institution. It is a question of always keeping in mind the principles and missions of the Francophonie which cannot be thought of, put into action today, without referring to the four major observations recalled by the poet, writer and former Secretary General of the OIF Jean-Louis Roy:
The attempt at a vast globalization of culture first, of the economy and of many human activities second, having massive effects on the international French-speaking community;
The demographic enrichment of the world and its major consequences on the current and virtual balances of the Francophonie, and its constitutive North-South dimension;
The formidable linguistic battle which is unfolding on a world level and which brings together certain major Asian languages, the Arabic language, the Spanish language alongside the English language;
Respect and take into account the realities and the cultural and economic specificities of the French-speaking peoples of the South.
In the judgment of the High Council of La Francophonie in a report devoted to the state of the Francophonie in the world, it is written that the African Francophonie constitutes “an opportunity for development for our community which is not found on any other continent”. This is why the Heads of State and Government of the South cannot always be silent and let things happen. No more followership! So let them take their responsibilities or leave this space where they have no place!
As for the demographic projections, they reinforce the current and future importance of French-speaking South Africa with regard to the preservation, influence and use of the French language in the world. In 2020, already, in a world of 8 billion people, 164 million French-speakers lived in the countries of the North, of which 24 million were under 20 years old and 640 million in the so-called French-speaking countries of the South, of which 280 million were younger. 20 years old.
Building a space for dialogue and exchange
Of course, the Francophonie will not be against France or without France, but with France, whatever its inclinations, its interests, its unspoken words, its mistrust, its national or European priorities.
Moreover, France, it must be said, bears the failure, in the first place, of the French-speaking convention which provided for the circulation of people in the French-speaking world. Indeed, “we will not make the Francophonie by closing the borders of French-speaking countries to French-speakers, nor by expelling them”. Canada and France opposed this convention. And yet, it had been reduced to the extreme of the reasonable. “The new generations from the South go and will go elsewhere with a heavy baggage of resentment, increasingly abandoning the French-speaking space of the North for the American continent. »
We had always thought that it would be impossible to build a political Francophonie without first a cultural Francophonie that supports francophone creators, poets, writers, artists, the very people who are the garden and the watering can of the language French. We were wrong!
The politicians have taken everything and are leading in a quiet and silent procession the remains of the Francophonie towards its tomb. We don’t want this funeral. We want to live and live with the French language in harmony with African languages, to build a space for dialogue and exchange for the best of the spirit!
Don’t wait any longer, President Macron! Do not delay, gentlemen heads of French-speaking states! The Francophonie is on its knees, dry, speechless and with its back broken!
Give him back his golden rings!