Be the change you want in your society. We can’t build a new Gambia without a new Gambian. We all yearn for change but refuse to carry our weight by owning up to our responsibilities in nation building. It is so eager to admire those that stand up for country but that will not change the status quo. Corruption and opportunism are endemic in our homeland particularly with the youth and so-called intellectuals. The most dangerous person in a society is an educated mercenary.
Whole generation has opted out for the easy fix to success and this is done by renting out their conscience and conviction to the highest bidder thereby making us complicit in our current sociopolitical predicament. Change needs a critical mass and whenever we think that we have mustered the resolve to bring about change, we see dynamic youths being brought to the auction block for the bidding for greener pastures.
I therefore believe that our current predicament is one of self-hate and destruction. The only way out is for the youths to resist the bait and lure of materialism being offered to them. In the age of materialism, it is quite difficult to flatly say no but resisting the pressures of instant gratification is what’s going to galvanize our resolve for change. Freedom is not a free commodity and those that yearn for it need to sacrifice for their dignity and conscience if they are to ever attain emancipation.
The greatest insult to Gambian youths is the current slogan being peddled around that the YOUTHS ARE HAPPY. In communication, the efforts by those peddling it are deliberate and they want to reinforce the message in the psyche of young Gambians. Understanding the demographic distribution of our country and the harrowing socioeconomic indices facing young Gambian, one would detest in the strongest terms the attributes of happiness and prosperity being attributed to youths when migration of peril remains a desperate outlet for our youth folk.
The Wollof of have a colloquial sagth rohgoinee badolaa moyee seem chefeh burr and politics in the modern Gambian era tantamount to sehgaal ma warr la. Just look at the opposing human development indices of the president and his cabal from 2016 to date and that of the average youth. This phenomenon has nothing to do with any political party but the way public officials and servants see the peppy they lead. I will give you three scenarios for you to ponder and you be the judge if the system is benefiting you or not. Most Gambia government vehicles are tinted and maintained at your expense whilst you the beneficiary have to pay an arm and a leg to drive with a tiny. Most officials travel out of the jurisdiction without paying for airport tax whilst you have to pay coming in out of the jurisdiction. When traffic jams occur, they skip the jam-by creating a priority land to commute at ease.
So long as the youths of this country choose to be prostituted, they will be pimped. Waking up daily seeing people who aided and abetted our national agony convinces me firmly that a struggle needs to be orchestrated to regain our dignity. The choice is ours and what we do today will undoubtedly affect our future tomorrow. We the youths are the culprits and savior of our current predicament. The choice is ours. God bless The Gambia.
Nyang Njie
Aisha Fatty was ambushed and abducted!
Dear editor,
Anyone who has conscience and holds an unbiased position on the Thiam-Aisha saga knows the decision taken by Senegalese border security was not appropriate. Had Aisha committed a crime, the Senegalese security could have engaged the Gambian counterparts, and extradited Aisha. The Gambia and Senegal have several security arrangements which allow each country to pursue persons of interest across the border.
So, had there been a criminal complaint against Aisha, so grave, her information is everywhere including a border post, how is that such security arrangements were not utilised by Senegal?
Only for their security officials to lay an ambush on her at The Gambia-Senegal border and whisked her to Dakar where she is still being detained. And sadly, nothing is heard from Gambia government, as though— most likely the case— they are not even informed. Perhaps, even the president is reading this news just like all Gambians.
The Gambian authorities should not allow such arbitrary action taken against a Gambian to go unattended. There were several instances where the Senegalese abused the so-called hot-pursuit agreement— one of the security arrangements they have with Gambia to pursue persons of interest across the border.
They enter the country and arrest folks and take them to Senegal. The Senegalese security also reportedly used drones on Gambians, resulting in deaths and injuries in the Fonis.
Now their new modus operandi is to lay an ambush at the border on a citizen who is already going to court for her supposed crime. And despite access to leave the country, is happy to clear her name through the justice process. This should not be entertained.
Due process must be followed. Most Gambians did not see anything wrong with what happened to her, but it can have negative consequences for other Gambians. It is a terrible precedent. Gambian authorities cannot be unaware of Aisha Fatty’s abduction. Something must be done about it!
Omar Wally
