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| "And Didier Drogba as Principal Belding." |
“Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God” (Barash 2010). The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. staunchly stood behind these words; that man cannot progress without the unending work of its leaders inspiring the masses to greater things. In this way, one sees how athletes can be agents of change for the greater good. Didier Drogba, the native son of Cote d’Ivoire on the West African coast, certainly has enough athletically ability to be nothing more than a sports superstar, coasting by in life thanks to his gifts in a game like so many others. Drogba, however, has chosen to take a higher road, living by similar ideas as to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, using his resources to help his homeland. In most of the world, Drogba is seen for his athletic exploits as one of the most powerful and effective strikers in the game today.
In Africa, however, Drogba stands as something unseen in America, an unprecedentedly famous celebrity who devotes all of his endorsement money and much of his time to inspiring change politically and furthering human rights. Indeed, Drogba’s political involvement in the Ivory Coast, as well as his encouragement of other Ivorian players to join in, has helped push the trouble nation towards peace. Certainly, Drogba has not solved the myriad problems of his homeland by himself, and the Ivory Coast still has many challenges in its future before it can be a truly free and peaceful nation, but his commitment to trying has cemented him as a powerful peacemaker in today’s world. As an agent of positive change in a world filled with selfish athletes, Drogba has pioneered into the world of peace and constructive political activism that has so often been left well enough alone by the men of the sporting world.
Born and raised in the tumultuous Ivory Coast, Drogba was never one unaware of the hardships of the world, especially those that plagued the African continent. During Drogba’s youth, the Ivory Coast was ruled by the dictatorship of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who ruled until 1990, when he was essentially forced out by nationwide protests. While Houphouet-Boigny was not nearly as power-hungry and gruesome as many of his African contemporaries, he did not allow for any competition, essentially forcing the entire nation to take his stances on all issues, be they political or social. After his fall in 1990, Henri Konan Bedie took power, bringing a more violent government to the Ivorian people while continuing the tradition of unquestioned authority, though Bedie brought his own racist spin to it. Bedie made sure that no one would oppose him, jailing many members of his opposition and trying to slow the influx of people not of Ivorian descent. However, even in this repressive environment, some progress was made in Ivorian society. The Ivory Coast’s economy began to grow to rival that of the most stable African nations, and Bedie made sure to do what he could to avoid any racial or ethnic tensions while still harboring an intense distrust of all non-Ivorians. Granted, Bedie only tried to smooth over any racial tension in order to cement his place in power, but nonetheless it was a positive that would be lacking in rulers to come. Bedie’s insistence on his singular power led to his downfall, when a coup led by General Robert Guei in 1999 took power. Guei’s successor, Laurent Gbagbo, instituted many policies against his opposition, resulting in a civil war breaking out in 2002 that lasted until 2010. Bedie pushed more and more legislation against foreigners, something that greatly troubled the roughly 26% if the population that was originally from other nations. Specifically, Bedie wished to handcuff the Burkinabe population, a group whose leader had opposed him in the last election and who made up roughly 60% of the foreigners in the Ivory Coast. The rebels took over the Northern half of the Ivory Coast, setting the city of Bouake as their capital and insisting on free elections including all foreign-born citizens of the nation.
During this time, Drogba was gaining prominence as a football player in Europe, able to avoid the violence of his homeland physically, though the mental anguish pushed him to become more involved in finding a peaceful solution for the betterment of his people. Drogba left the Ivory Coast at the age of 15 to play in France, bringing his family along. Drogba quickly worked his way up the ranks of French youth soccer before signing with Le Mans, a traditionally strong club who had fallen on hard times, in 1998. Drogba had always been gifted at goal scoring, a skill he only continued to hone in his time at Le Mans. It was here that Drogba developed the skills that would be his calling card in later years: his almost ox-like stubbornness not to be pulled off the ball, as well as a wicked shot he could strike from just about anywhere on the pitch. After five years with Le Mans, Drogba began to yearn for a challenge in the higher divisions of French football. This led to his transfer to En Avant Guingamp, which he left a year later for Olmpique de Marseille, one of the premier clubs in all of France. Drogba had become a well-known soccer star, ready to be recognized across Europe. Soon, Drogba moved to Chelsea, perhaps the most storied club in all of England’s Premier League, in 2004, where he has remained to this day.
Finally cemented as one of the best players in the world in his professional career, Drogba began to focus more on the troubles of his homeland. While Drogba had lived in France since his youth, he still remained intricately connected with the Ivory Coast, where much of his family, as well as his childhood friends, remained through the various crises that continued to arise. While many of Drogba’s friends in football had spent huge sums of their own money on various charities, none had attempted what Drogba wished to do: that is, “none had ever stopped a country tearing itself apart” (Kouassi 2010). Athletes had often used charity to grow their own image, a selfish reason that resulted in many great acts of good. Ever the humble servant of the Ivorians, Drogba had no desire to increase his public image. In his professional career, Drogba had always wanted to play at the highest level and succeed in his “main passion… goals” (Soccer-Fans-Info 2011). Beyond these, Drogba had no reason to appear as a great person or as a villain to the general populace. However, the Ivory Coast was tearing itself apart and had been, slowly, since Drogba’s youth, and his conscience demanded that he do whatever he could to change this. Unfortunately, one man can only do so much, even if that man is the athletic pride and joy of a nation. Drogba realized that he was the only real international ambassador for the Ivorians, the only man which the greater world really connected to the Ivory Coast. As such, Drogba realized that, while he could beg the Western world for help, this would not address the core of the problem. Drogba has never seen the purpose of pushing the media to cover his charitable ways, refusing to cover himself in laurels and forcing himself to work only for the good of his people. Indeed, Drogba recognized that he needed to appeal to the Ivorian people for peace, putting his own status as their national hero on the line.
At the height of the violence in the Ivory Coast came a global event: the World Cup. Unfortunately, the qualifying rounds to make the prestigious worldwide football tournament were taking place during the Ivorian civil war, which meant that Drogba and his compatriots had to deal with possible violence at every match they played in their homeland. To protect their greatest international resource, the Ivorian government made sure all of The Elephants’ matches would be played in their strongholds, far away from any rebel resistance. Rather than take a passive stance as nothing more than an athlete, Drogba saw this as a chance to make a difference in his nation. With the support of the rest of his national team, Drogba convinced the Ivorian government to allow them to play an Africa Cup qualifying match in Bouake, the rebel capital. Under heavy surveillance and constant guard, the Ivorian team not only succeeded in finishing their match, but made a powerful statement about the dangers of the north. Until this time, most Ivorians had assumed that the north of their country was incredibly dangerous, filled with violence. Indeed, many believed that “not a week passed without human rights violations being committed [in Bouake]” (Kouassi 2010). After the Ivorian national team, with Drogba has their leader and public figurehead, played there without incident, the animosity between the two sides began to fall away. Many from the south began travelling north, and slowly the violence almost disappeared from the nation.
Beyond this, Drogba and the national team also made international appeals to the rebels and the Ivorian government, hoping to change their minds and end the violence. After Les Elephants defeated Benin in an international friendly match, Drogba addressed the nation as whole. While most athletes lean towards benign, bland comments after games, Drogba chose to make a powerful political statement backed by all of his teammates, saying that “we won for all Ivorians. Stop the war now, we want peace, we won for you, it must restore peace in Cote d’Ivoire” (Kobo 2011). Repeatedly, Drogba and his teammates have urged Ivorians to take a stand for peace, using their place as celebrities to bring positive change. While this particular event occurred earlier in 2011, Drogba made a similar plea in the various other important public matches Les Elephants have taken part in. After losing to Germany in the 2006 World Cup, Drogba begged Ivorian leaders to make peace and stand as one. This promise came to fruition when the rebel leaders and Ivorian government officials stood together for the Ivorian national anthem during the aforementioned Africa Cup qualifying match against Madagascar. Drogba went on the say that he “felt that the Ivory Coast was born again” thanks to this unprecedented display of camaraderie amongst the warring forces (Hayes 2007). Furthermore, the team’s place as a melting pot of all of the Ivory Coast’s various cultural backgrounds has served to show that they can indeed work together. Les Elephants are filled with both northern and southern players, with such international stars as Yaya and Gnegneri Toure representing the northern half of the nation, while men such as Kader Keita are descended from immigrants across the African continent. Drogba has repeatedly stressed the melodious relationship amongst his national teammates, using it as an example of the harmony that Cote d’Ivoire can obtain if only it accepts all its various cultures as distinctly Ivorian in nature, no matter their original nation.
Finally, Drogba has made a monetary investment beyond even the most dedicated charities of other athletes. After Drogba’s success at Chelsea, which almost led to a Champions League title (the premier club championship in all of Europe), he realized his own marketability. Hundreds of companies were coming to him to be their spokesperson, hoping to gain business from his image just like Nike in the United States does from countless basketball players. The difference between the pure economic motivation of many athletes and Drogba, however, comes in how he viewed this opportunity. Not wanting for money, Drogba realized that he could help his homeland, pledging to send every single cent he made from endorsements to the Ivory Coast in order to better their education and health systems, especially those for women which were severely lacking. Drogba’s commitment to improving his nation in this way has rarely been matched in sports, with possibly only Dikembe Mutombo’s and Hakeem Olajuwon’s hospital program in the Democractic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, respectively, coming close to the financial power Drogba has provided to his homeland.
Certainly, Drogba’s actions did not solve the crisis on his own. The actions and wants of the entire Ivorian people led to this change, which was sadly not entirely successful in creating a truly peaceful African republic. Drogba merely provided a powerful voice for his countrymen, spreading their message not only to their own government but to the greater global community. Soon after an attempted democratic election, violence erupted once again in the Ivory Coast, with the civil war reappearing earlier this year. A council of Gbagbo supporters rigged the election in his favor, declaring that many of the northern territories’ votes did not count for various reason. As such, Gbagbo appeared to win the election with 51% of the vote, only to have this result disputed by the United Nations as well as the Ivorian people. Drogba’s actions, along with the entire Ivorian national football team, may have led to a brief stoppage of violence and an attempt at true democracy, but unfortunately they have not truly reformed Cote d’Ivoire into the “haven of peace” in Africa it was recognized as in the 1960s and 70s (Kouassi 2010). Even so, Drogba has continued to work towards peace, serving as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and the head of the Didier Drogba Foundation, which is committed to improving the lives of women across Cote d’Ivoire (ninabean 2010). With such charitable pastimes filling his personal life, Drogba has committed himself to improving the lives of all Ivorians even if he cannot affect change in their political situation quite to the extent he wishes, though he certainly will not stop trying.
While Drogba may not have “fixed” the Ivory Coast, he certainly has worked to the best of his abilities to make it a more peaceful place. Unfortunately, it seems impossible for any one man, or even a small group of men such as the Ivorian national football team, to radically change the culture of violence that has taken hold of Cote d’Ivoire. Drogba seemed to understand this, doing everything he can not only to plead for peace, but to turn all Ivorians into radicals for the peace movement. Drogba understood that his place as the Ivorian national hero lent him a special political platform. While it may not be one that he can fix everything by himself from, Drogba has used it to the best of his abilities to instead vocalize and organize his people in peaceful resistance in order to make a better Ivory Coast and, hopefully, Africa as a whole. Certainly, Drogba is one of the prominent cultural peacemakers of his time, albeit in a less publicized area than many, partially due to his own humble nature. Nonetheless, Drogba must be recognized for his actions and one can only hope his continued work to improve the lives of all Ivorians comes to fruition as Drogba continues his role as one of the greatest athletic peacemakers of our, or any, generation.
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