This came last Friday at the Paradise Suites Hotel during the launching of a publication titled, ‘Seeking to Succeed’ by the retired teacher and civil servant.
Mr Ceesay stated: “In ‘Seeking to Succeed,’ we have an autobiography of an eminent Gambian, who is modest by all measures and successful by all accounts. He has been a self-serving someone and his self-legacy is in a better light of the future generations, as some writers write their life stories to simply share anecdotes.
“Books are the depositories of knowledge as in the books we seek to inscribe for posterity experience, pains, joy, hope and despairs of our personal lives and those of our societies. A society which does not produce books is a moribund society hence when one talks about books in our society, the first reaction given is that they are expensive but after all they are worth it because its knowledge.” The historian said that every book published in the country should be a cause for celebration because ‘something is added to our culture and patrimony as Gambians’. He said the book shows how meticulous the author is in keeping personal and family archives dating back to 1963.
For his part, Imam Baba Abubacarr Drammeh said Mr Jagne had always had the ambition and thoughts to share his experience in life and the services he had rendered the country. He stated that the author had struggled a lot before he got to where he is today. He said the book is therefore a moral gift to Gambians.
Abubacarr Jagne, a son to the author said he is proud of his father’s work and that it will serve as an inspiration to him. He noted that it was high time Gambians started writing books that will benefit the younger generations.
Meanwhile, Kebba Landing Jagne was born on the 12 December 1948 in Farafenni in the North Bank Region of The Gambia. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, in 1973, and master’s degree in Linguistics Studies from the Arab League Post-graduate, Khartoum, Sudan, in 1979. Jagne worked as a teacher for many years and rose through various positions culminating in his appointment as the vice principal at Armitage Senior Secondary School, Janjanbureh in the Central River Region. He was redeployed to the administrative cadre as assistant commissioner (now deputy governor) at Mansakonko, in the Lower River Region from 1994 to 2000. He was deputy permanent secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs from 2000 to 2003. Jagne also served briefly as principal assistant secretary, Attorney General’s Chambers at the Ministry of Justice. Having worked for twenty-nine years, he retired from government service on 12 December 2003.
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