Following his inflammatory statements about Senegalese riflemen, whom he described as "traitors" who fought their brothers for money, Cheikh Oumar Diagne was dismissed by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on December 31. This statement, broadcast on December 21 on Fafa TV, sparked a heated debate, to the point that government spokesman Moustapha Njekk Sarré said he was "totally out of step" with his remarks. President Faye, for his part, paid tribute to the former colonial soldiers during a major ceremony, marking a clear break with his former minister.

But this affair is only one episode in a long series of controversies led by this man accustomed to making sensational statements. Cheikh Oumar Diagne has recently attacked entire sections of Senegalese history, calling into question memorial narratives firmly anchored in the collective consciousness. Regarding the House of Slaves in Gorée, he maintains that its role in the slave trade has been exaggerated, claiming that it was simply a residence belonging to a signare, Anne Colas, and that Saint-Louis would have played a much more central role in the triangular trade. Regarding the tragic episode of Nder in 1820, he does not deny the resistance of the women of Walo against the Moorish invaders, but disputes the idea of a collective immolation, preferring to see it as an act of bravery in combat rather than a voluntary sacrifice.

"We need a true foundation for our history," he proclaims, calling for a critical rereading of the facts, stripped of all dogma. An ambition that might seem laudable if it weren't part of a broader project, one that Cheikh Oumar Diagne makes little secret of. For behind this enterprise of deconstructing Senegalese history lies an attempt at regeneration through Islamism, a goal he pursues as the leader of an Islamist party. He proclaims himself Maba, and he wants to replace the Westernization he loathes with Arabization.

His model is not to be sought in the cultural riches of Senegal – our ancient kings, the Thiossane, the voice of Youssou Ndour or the “Dogo” of Kiné Lam never rocked him – but in societies like Iran or Afghanistan, where ideological rigidity takes precedence over diversity and freedom.

A former rapper turned austere preacher, Cheikh Oumar Diagne feeds on conspiracy theories and readily borrows from the rhetoric of the leaders of the European far right, which he recycles under a religious veneer. A fanatic "deaf as a post," to use a popular phrase, he embodies what Stefan Zweig described so well in The World of Yesterday: "Fanaticism, this disease of the mind, is a force that knows neither restraint nor measure." A gloomy, dangerous spirit, whose intelligence and culture, often praised by his supporters, seem greatly overestimated given the poverty of his vision.

By attacking the symbols of Senegalese memory, Cheikh Oumar Diagne is not just trying to provoke: he wants to replace a plural history with a monolithic doctrine. Senegal, a land of dialogue and resilience, deserves better than this self-proclaimed prophet of discord.