A grateful nation still bows before a builder of knowledge

The Senegalese nation still bows, with respect and emotion, before the living memory of a man whose name resonates far beyond our borders: Professor Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow.

His exceptional career, marked by rigor, intellectual courage and fidelity to the ideals of justice, education and peace, constitutes one of the strongest incarnations of the best that Senegal has given to the world.

In paying tribute to this great servant of the Republic and of humanity, Senegal celebrates a universal conscience, a visionary educator and a diplomat of knowledge who elevated education to the rank of world heritage.

UNESCO heritage: an African breath in the world's consciousness

The first African and first man from the South to head UNESCO, Professor Mbow left his mark on the institution's history with his lucid humanism and his commitment to global cognitive justice.

Under his leadership, UNESCO championed a bold ideal: a world where all cultures share in the universality of knowledge and where no nation is condemned to intellectual invisibility.

His call for a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) was an act of political and intellectual courage. It reflected a profound conviction: that the right to know and the right to speak are essential conditions for the dignity of peoples.

He was the voice of an Africa that no longer accepted being a spectator, but which claimed its place in the making of the world, in the writing of history, in the governance of knowledge.

The pedagogue, the scholar and the patriot

But before being a man of UNESCO, Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow was a man of the school.

A teacher in the young colonial administration, a professor of history and geography, and Minister of Education in Senegal, he firmly believed that school was not only a place of instruction, but a space of emancipation.

Throughout his life, he worked to build an educational system rooted in our values, but open to the universal.

His journey, from Dakar to Paris, then to UNESCO, was that of a bridge-man : between cultures, generations and continents.

He knew that the future of African nations would be decided not only in economic conferences, but in classrooms, laboratories, and awakened consciences.

An ethic of service and a pedagogy of dignity

Professor Mbow has always embodied this ethic of public service that we want to pass on to our children:

– serve without serving oneself,

– govern without dominating,

– know without despising.

He showed that one can be African, universal and true to oneself at the same time.

In a changing world, he carried the message of a Southern humanism, where diversity is not an obstacle, but a promise of balance and mutual fertility.

Through him, an entire continent learned to speak to the world without complexes, to combine knowledge and dignity, science and culture, modernity and tradition.

The consensus builder and president of the National Conference

Faithful to this ethic of service and his pedagogy of dignity, Professor Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow continued, well beyond his international functions, his work in the service of Senegal.

By agreeing to chair the National Conference (2008-2009) , he offered the Nation an unprecedented framework for dialogue, truth and democratic reconstruction.

Under his leadership, these meetings became an exemplary space for consultation, where political, social, religious and intellectual forces were able, for the first time since independence, to collectively rethink the foundations of the Senegalese social contract.

Through his moral authority and methodological rigor, he transformed a political exercise into a moment of national pedagogy : teaching a people that they can look themselves in the face, debate without tearing each other apart, and imagine their future together.

This historic contribution naturally extended his fight for cognitive justice at UNESCO: it was now a question of promoting civic and institutional justice within the Senegalese Republic itself.

Memory and Future: Senegal in the Wake of Mbow

Today, our country is committed to reinventing its education system, restoring confidence in public schools, reconciling excellence and equity, and integrating national languages, African humanities, digital technology and artificial intelligence into a holistic vision of education.

In paying tribute to Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow, Senegal affirms that education is not just another sector, but the beating heart of a societal project.

The best tribute we can pay him is to re-enchant Senegalese schools, to train inspired teachers, bold researchers, and enlightened citizens.

A promise of continuity

Our country must commit to keeping Mbow's legacy alive in our educational policies:

– by promoting educational research,

– by promoting civic and humanist values,

– by integrating global citizenship education,

– by strengthening the links between knowledge, values and a common future.

We hope that each generation of pupils and students will be able to learn about the work of this man, and that the Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow National Prize for Education and Peace will be established to honor, each year, those who continue his ideal.

In the face of Professor Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow, Senegal sees the reflection of what it aspires to become: a nation that is upright, educated, just and radiant.

His legacy reminds us that knowledge is only meaningful if it liberates, that education is only valuable if it elevates, and that memory is only powerful if it illuminates the future.

May our collective commitment make Senegal a place where the spirit of the great Africanist, the great humanist, the republican, the Senegalese Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow still breathes: a spirit of knowledge, service and hope.

Mr. Cheikh Tidiane Bâ, sociologist and researcher, consultant, nephew of Ahmadou-Mahtar Mbow

Mr. Khadiyatoulah Fall, Professor Emeritus, University of Quebec, friend of the family