The logo of the Patriotic Salvation Movement, MPS, seen on 13 May, 2011 in the afternoon in N'Djamena is a piece of art. It is a successful political marketing tool at the service of the ruling party in the Chad. The image is spread all over the country. Chad is 1294 000 000 km2 wide and large. According to the President, the slogan that is underscored by the logo is "Chad at the fore-front of revival”. The slogan is backed by three instruments on the logo. The first one is a long-range rifle. It was the sole image on the logo. A daba has been added since 1996. It crushes the aforementioned rifle in the form of cross.
Untold meanings of the message signal that firearms have stopped ruling supreme in Chad. Prominence is now given to the burial of the hatchet. Indeed, the first fifty years of the country tell the story of coups, revolutions and other mass atrocities. Therefore, war is an old habit in Chad. A new era has to see the light of day. The "daba", second icon, is authoritatively present. It passes on the message that the way-back to farming should be treated as a case of the emergency. Agricultural revolution can secure sustainable development. Chadians are aware of it. As such, they grow vegetables on the banks of Logone and Chari that have dried up. Small markets spread out in N'Djamena. Makeshift stalls bend under the abundance of vegetables and some fruits. Mangoes and watermelons are more visible. If small amounts of money had been deducted from funds that purchased weapons so as to invest in farming, the risks of food scarcity often indicated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, would not have ringed the bell. It is a miracle to see vegetables grow here. Chad cannot boost of having the technical expertise and financial means of Israel or Egypt. These countries transform deserts into farmlands.
The sudden oil overflow is an optical illusion Chad. Petrol is not a renewable energy. Therefore, wells shall run short of petrol one day or the other. Gabon and Nigeria are already experiencing oil exhaustion. Both countries are devising fruitful alternatives to the crisis. Moreover, oil is managed under the discretion of people in leadership position. They are not accountable to the rank-and-file.
The third image above the two others on the logo of MPS is a triumphant flame. It should translate the enlightenment torch of an emerging Chad to come soon. This development phase requires a prerequisite: industrialisation. This is not achievable in a country that lacks energy. Electricity is a sad story in Chad. Night meetings hold under moonlight. Citizens are still sleeping outside. They cannot stand the heat in their houses. Ventilation or air-condition is unknown to them since there is no light
Anyway, industrialisation in Chad needs steady support from creative economy. However, cultural policy is vague in the development programme dubbed "at the fore-front of revival in Chad". The said revival is more economic and less cultural. Actually, N'Djamena is the hotpot of pickaxes knocking here and there. The ground is dug to make way for optic fibre from Cameroon. Construction works are on in the capital city. Chinese are building a second bridge on Chari.
The five-year revival programme was preceded by that so-called "social" agenda. One of its results is the construction of a large-scale mother-child hospital. Once more, culture was neglected and abandoned during social five-year programme. Actually, all community arts centres in Chad are in a desperate situation. The country only has the French Institute. Consequently, culture is poorly disseminated. The only positive observation is the free flow of artists and goods. No policeman limits the mobility of the men of culture at borders. People go and come on both sides along the bridge. It is necessary to go towards the authorities to obtain toll-free entry visa with an official smiling. Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, because they apply mutual protectionism rules, have a lesson to learn.
However, Chadians do not agree with our pacifist interpretation of MPS logo. Even the artists criticise the appearance of the rifle on the aforementioned symbol. It portrays the idea that violence and conflict are not easy to get rid of. Chadians live with this trauma in their minds. Opposition parties in the country also criticise the rifle. It is an expressed will, it is reported, to exercise terror and maintain a regime in power by instilling fear and displaying the tools of armed repression. The slightest mistake shall face armed response as bullets will explode demonstrators and mutineers’ heads. The "daba" shall help bury them or dig them a mass grave, once the concerned persons are killed. If such an operation fails, the flame above shall burn them to death for subversion.
This criticism demands no neglect. Chad is the republic of Kalachinokov guns. The nation square is a vivid evidence of this. Public authorities constructed it thanks to the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Chadian Independence. It is a modern space in front of the presidential palace. The sculpture of a soldier gives a military salute in front of the door of the presidency. Now, the bust of Japhet N' doram with a ball, the all-time greatest Chadian football player, in replacement of the soldier on the same spot would have convinced the overwhelming majority of Chadians. The warrior seems to eternally worship, almost idolising, Idriss Deby Itno. This image contradicts the other statue that is located some kilometres away. It is a slave who has freed himself. He has unchained his hands to secure independence.
Actually, the President himself is a born-soldier. He has already crushed at least two mutinies. His chances were very slim, though. Idriss Deby Itno used guns to topple his predecessor. Hissène Habré then had to escape by nearby North-Cameroon. The fallen President also used firearms. He overthrew Goukouni Wede following a successful coup. Besides, his troops fought Kadhafi’s army in order to have control over the Aozou strip. Chad fails to get rid of the identity of a regime that easily takes up arms. Army general Kamougue Kamal AbdelKader has just died. A 3-day national national mourning decree has been signed. Flags are at half-mast for the glorious memory of the deceased. The nation is paying him tribute for his key role in the maiden coup that toppled Chad’s first President Tombalbaye in 1975.
The national mourning is delaying the publication of the results of the presidential election. The incumbent has carried the day. But it is up to the constitutional court to confirm the results. Nevertheless, the general deceased was a candidate. He had even asked people to boycott the election. The President had appointed him Minister-special Advisor to the Head of state. But he showed less interest for it until he died. All these considerations mean nothing to common Chadians. They want to live a normal life almost like the fifty women seen at the Southern entry to N'Djamena. Each woman was carrying a kitchen appliance on her head. The women were taking a bride to her new home. The wife has to secure the kitchen tools of her new house. She shall use them the next day to prepare the very first meal in her household. The dream of a common life is also the ideal of a street comedian seen not far from the bridge on Chari. He clowned around with a tail as a devil. The public enjoyed the humorist disguised in an old man attire. It is a recipe inherited from the Cameroonian Jean-Miché Kankan. According to him, the elderly are individuals with a lot of humour. They embody best the laughter and the ridiculous. This life with a permanent smile and the absence of crackling rifles is the ultimate goal of Chadians. Such might also has been the intention of the designers of the MPS logo. Unfortunately, people are free to make comments and interpretations.
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