Reckya MADOUGOU Former Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, Legislation and Human Rights Former Government Spokesperson Former Minister of Microfinance and Youth and Women Employment Special Advisor to the President of the Republic Togolese International consultant in financial inclusion and passionate about development mechanisms presented her new book on September 26, 2020 in Cotonou, the capital with the presence of many personalities. Eleven years after “My fight for speech”, “The challenges of a citizen mobilization for the promotion of democratic governance” published by Harmattan with a preface by the former French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira, Reckya Madougou resumes the feather: “Heal the certainties” is his new interview-book.
The international expert in inclusive finance and several times minister, completed the writing of her book at the end of 2019. And once again, the opportunity and the relevance of the issue addressed do not fail to meet its standards. “Care for certainties” is the title of this book-interview with the young and talented Beninese writer Stephens Akplogan who succeeded in convincing her to this collaboration. Especially since we know that on several occasions Reckya Madougou approached by journalists from the international press and academics for projects of authorized biography of her has always declined arguing that new achievements are yet to come in her career. already very inspiring. She also evokes her feeling of embarrassment in relation to a “classic biography” which, according to her, is narcissistic.
In the end, it is to her young companion, who has proven himself otherwise, that she chose to offer the opportunity to break the glass ceiling for a co-writing illustrated by a tangle of experiences both public and private life. But be careful, she said from the outset, the subject of the book should focus on subjects of general interest to Africa and particularly her country Benin and not simply on biographical subjects. The challenge was thus taken up with Stephens Akplogan at Éditions Jean-Jacques Wuillaume in France.
Without pathos but with precision, the author protests against the false evidence and the clichés constructed to legitimize a certain fatality of the African drama. So, she is committed to deconstructing these certainties that keep African countries, youth and women in the assistantship. Otherwise she pleads for treatment. The antidotes? Training, economic citizenship, the financial inclusion of populations, the dividends of digitization, the empowerment of women, the structural transformation of agriculture, entrepreneurship, political intelligence and social justice. In short, a new “dialectic of inclusion and the human minimum in Africa”, the subtitle of the book. The advantage is that the author does not sell mere theories, much less fiction, but starts from her own experiences on these subjects and takes an analytical cross-look at development options by suggesting mechanisms that have been proven to work.
With a rich Preface by the President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, himself a follower of the association of liberalism with social inclusion, the book offers a more objective reading grid of new development challenges. Captivating anecdotes and practical experiences follow one another, sometimes in educational form, sometimes in inspiring form, sometimes with a critical eye. Everything is meaningful and hollows out realities that irrigate and solutions that are permanently installed. “There is a sort of pervasive lack of successful methods to get our society off the ground,” she wrote.
According to the pages, Reckya Madougou advises, reformulates, explains, teaches, denounces and above all proposes. Here, the conviction of an Africa of possibilities is painted without the risk of being fooled by prejudices. The continent is the most profitable region in the world. You have to recognize it and prepare for it, the author seems to say. In this, she invites “familiarity with the summits without complex” by focusing on what she calls a “spirituality of effort” or even “economic citizenship”. “Reducing the horizon of economic citizenship to the question of employability is a mistake in this century of great technology and the digitization of reflexes. What makes this citizenship fully authentic is not so much the job itself. especially with the threat of the disappearance of some jobs, “wrote Reckya Madougou.
Some excerpts from the book: 1. There is a sort of pervasive lack of successful methods to get our society off the ground.
2. The problematic of effort and as you say, its spirituality requires us to explore both the physical and metaphysical character of effort. And it’s a matter of interest that arguably follows this manipulative rhetoric of whether Africa is cursed. Because that does not get along with a human potential of this quality and a wealth of arable land as well as the most valued materials in industry and technology, we are there, contemplating complaints and begging for help. all wind and foolproof. This is a mistake.
3. It is then necessary to cultivate emotional self-resilience. The exorcism of emotions begins with the ability to know yourself first. You need to know your strengths and their limitations, and then tame your weaknesses.
4. What is failure? This is a carryover of success. And the better you invest yourself in taking stock of your methods and resources, the faster you will recover from your fall. It is more accidental to live exclusively in expectation of good shaking.
5. Emotions are criminogenic when you are not vigilant about yourself. Part of our psychological and even intellectual motor skills come from emotions. Making sure they’re not blissful helps contain the excitement that distorts the action.
6. The will of the children must be directed on the path which carries them into the future. This path is that of their multimodal education (at school, at home, and everywhere else). I particularly like this aphorism by François Mitterand: Intelligence? It’s the most shared thing in the world. Willpower is rarer. Those who are afraid of their shadows wait until noon to get up. Meanwhile, the few who believe and want to win the future are running. And there is always a future for those who think about the future.
7. Reducing the horizon of economic citizenship to the question of employability is a mistake in this century of great technology and the digitization of reflexes. What makes this citizenship fully authentic is not so much the job itself, especially with the threat of the disappearance of certain jobs. It is at the end of a certain solvent individuality that economic citizenship is found. It is not enough today and in the coming decades to exercise a profession with the automatism to which that predisposes. You have to be up to the task of the world which qualitatively moves with its creativity and ingenuity.
