Nathan Ovono Obiang, a 25-year-old student at Omar Bongo University in Gabon’s capital, is as concerned about the state of his country as he is about his math lessons.
“I don’t see any prospects, but we are aware that things can’t change from one day to the next,” said Nathan, who is in his third year of a degree program.
Less than a month ago, Gabon’s new military rulers abruptly ended 55 years of rule by a family accused of amassing immense wealth from the country’s oil reserves. The ousting of President Ali Bongo Ondimba on August 30 came just moments after he was declared the winner of disputed elections.
General Brice Oligui Nguema, the leader of the coup, was swiftly sworn in as transitional president. He has pledged to return the country to civilian rule after a transitional period but has not provided a specific date.
Oligui has also promised to implement reforms to assist the poor and young, including in education.
Under Ali Bongo’s rule, the education system suffered from years of underfunding and what the new military leaders claim was disastrous management by corrupt governments.
Omar Bongo University (UOB), founded in 1970, is the country’s primary institution of higher learning. However, despite its prestigious title, the start of the academic year has been repeatedly delayed, its facilities are in disrepair, and its equipment is in dire need of an update.
Some buildings are in ruins, financial aid for the neediest students is not disbursed, and many teachers complain of going months without receiving their salaries.
While classrooms and lecture halls are overcrowded, the prospects of students finding employment after graduation are slim.
“There were 2,000 students in the first year of the program. It was really a first-come, first-served situation to get a seat in the classes,” Ovono Obiang remarked.
Some students are hopeful but also impatient, echoing the sentiments of many Gabonese who cheered the coup leaders for freeing the country from the Bongo family’s grip.
Sarah Emmanuel, a law student, commented that under the previous regime, “We lacked everything at the university.” She acknowledged that change would take time but expressed optimism about the announced reforms and increased resources to help students enter the job market.
The challenges ahead are significant. Gabon has one of Africa’s highest unemployment rates, with one-fifth of the active population jobless, rising to a third among those under 25, according to the United Nations in 2020. In this third-richest African country in terms of per-capita GDP, one in three people lives below the poverty line, as per the World Bank.
“It’s not just a financial problem. There is no match between our training and the expectations of companies upon graduation,” Ovono Obiang emphasized.
Noel Bertrand Boundzanga, a university lecturer and researcher at UOB, highlighted in a government newspaper that the issue is not so much “the nature of the training as the economy’s ability to create conditions conducive to job creation.”
Gabon’s wealth, derived from abundant oil reserves and other natural resources, was concentrated in the hands of a small elite under the Bongo family’s rule. Critics argue that there was a failure to diversify the economy by developing a production or manufacturing sector to reduce dependence on oil, manganese, and timber.
“Future prospects were very limited because there weren’t many opportunities after graduating,” said economics student Marcus Mouloud, 24. “With the new institutions, we can dream bigger and hope to be better off than previous generations of young people.”
Law student Karly Elislande hopes that the new leaders will construct student housing and establish universities in each province to alleviate the pressure on the capital and prevent all students from “overloading the first and second years.”