The Gambia has neglected the untamed rise of its population and this will undoubtedly have serious implications on our SOCIAL CONTRACT. The recent demolition exercise on our roads is one clear example as the government has failed in enabling a vibrant private sector environment to absorb job seekers. Drugs, prostitution insecurity, crime, migration and housing opportunities will continue to be festering problems because urban Gambia is over populated. Imagine 27% of our land mass being occupied by 70% of our population leaving 73% of our expanse under populated with elderly people without productive means to make a decent livelihood. I am worried about the future of this country and our leaders lack the strategic vision and foresight to dream of a future Gambia. This is where we find ourselves in 2023 and our future is bleak with corruption on the rise.
Activism
Activism has always been embedded in my psyche. Just got a throw back from a friend during my university days in the heart of Dixie (Alabama) to be precise. Young man of colour with a foreign accent and alien name decided to take on the establishment and run for President of the Student body. My candidacy brought hysteria on campus but surely changed Jacksonville for good. Minority rights were not only recognised but mainstreamed in student life and administration of the school.
Thanks to the level headedness and foresight of Dr Alice N Cusimano for letting cooler heads to prevail over sentiment and tradition. This is part of my story on my journey to America. Warren Carson, Christy Allison-Williams and Hope Henry for playing a pivotal role in my campaign and thanks to all that supported and rallied behind me during that election.
Speaking up and civic engagement is nothing new to me. I defended rights and ideals in America and I will continue to do so in my dearly beloved Gambia. Democracy will be cultivated and it will surely take root. Nationalism will be cultivated and it will be entrenched in the Gambian psyche. #ProjectGambia is a reality and protest culture will be cultivated. It baffles me when Gambians want to curtail the right of people to assemble and express themselves. Governments are beasts of burden and we the people need to tame the excesses of government by defending and exercising our rights as prescribed by the constitution. So, let no one fool your cos I have been in the business of advocacy longer than the reign of dictator Jammeh. Freedom is certainly not a free commodity but an ideal that is to be fought for and preserved. For The Gambia, I remain ever true.
By Nyang Njie
Standing with Palestine!
My relationship with the gallant people of Palestine goes as long as my life simply because I stand naturally with all oppressed peoples and against all injustice anywhere it occurs!
For that matter, today I display with pride the colours of Palestine in these scarfs presented to me by Palestinian activists in Jordan in 2011, and again in 2016 at The Hague in the Netherlands!
Injustice, oppression and racism must be crushed and buried under the earth and never to rise again!
From the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, Palestine must be free, independent and sovereign like all other nations of the earth!
Israel, which is shamelessly backed and armed by the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union must be told to end apartheid in Palestine immediately! Israel must be held accountable for its acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity that it is unleashing on Palestinians without mercy nor remorse!
Israel is an apartheid state as declared by Amnesty International in February 2022, “Amnesty International’s new investigation shows that Israel imposes a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians across all areas under its control: in Israel and the OPT, and against Palestinian refugees, in order to benefit Jewish Israelis. This amounts to apartheid as prohibited in international law.”
Free Palestine. From the River to the Sea.
By Madi Jobarteh
