Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – Former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has marked a rare and remarkable milestone, his 100th birthday, with a heartfelt message of gratitude to well-wishers across Senegal, Africa, and beyond, while delivering what he described as the most important message he could offer: a resounding call to work.
The elder statesman, who governed Senegal for 12 years before leaving office in 2012, took the occasion of his centenary to reflect on a life lived in public service, express rare public praise for his successor, and remind Africa’s younger generation that the essence of life lies in industry and perseverance.
“Among those who send me messages of well-being and congratulations for my 100 years, many are my children or my grandchildren,” Wade said in a message broadcast to mark the occasion. “I would not know how to begin or end without speaking of President Diomaye.”
In what observers noted as a gracious gesture from a statesman who once had a complex political relationship with the current administration, Wade extended warm acknowledgement to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, noting that the young president “is evolving with his government and his friends,” a quiet but meaningful endorsement from one of Senegal’s most towering political figures.
A Century Reluctantly Celebrated
By his own admission, the former president is not a man who relishes public celebration. Wade revealed that since leaving power, he has rarely consulted doctors, and that his family well knows his aversion to birthday festivities. Yet this centenary was different.
“This day is exceptional,” he acknowledged, “because I heard messages first from people who had left me and who came of their own accord to testify about what I have done.”
He spoke with visible emotion about the tributes that poured in from across the continent, with each well-wisher highlighting a different aspect of his long and consequential life.
“Each one underlined the aspect that struck them most in my long longevity,” he said, adding with characteristic humility that he preferred to let others speak about his legacy rather than enumerate his own achievements.
“I don’t like to say very much about what I did during the 12 years I spent at the head of Senegal. I prefer to let others say it,” he said. “I did not think I would reach a hundred, but I am still here.”
More African Than Senegalese
Wade used the milestone to reaffirm a conviction he has long held and written about: that his identity transcends national borders. “Senegalese have often heard me say that I am more African than Senegalese,” he said, a declaration that has been a defining thread throughout his political philosophy and pan-Africanist worldview.
Accordingly, he directed his gratitude not only to Senegalese citizens but also to all Africans, whom he tenderly described as his children and grandchildren, a reflection of the continental fatherly stature he has come to occupy in the eyes of many across the region.
The Most Important Message: Work
At the heart of his centenary address, however, was a call that Wade described as the most significant message he could deliver at this stage of his life, a clarion call to labor.
“Work. Work again. Always work,” he declared. “This message has become a message for all of Africa, for all Senegalese and African youth. The essential thing. That life is work.”
The simplicity and directness of the message belied its weight, coming as it did from a man who spent decades as a lawyer, opposition leader, and head of state before the world’s eyes, and who has lived to tell the tale at a century old.
A Legacy Cast in Longevity
Abdoulaye Wade, widely known as Maître, a title reflecting his legal background, served as President of Senegal from 2000 to 2012, a tenure marked by significant infrastructure development and an assertive pan-African foreign policy.
His journey to the presidency was itself a testament to persistence, having contested multiple elections over several decades before finally ascending to power.
That same persistence, it would seem, has followed him into old age, and at 100, Maître Wade shows no signs of retreating from the public conversation.
For the youth of Africa listening, the centenarian’s final message was both ancient wisdom and urgent counsel: that a century well-lived is, above all else, a century of work.
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