Nostalgia Saturday. The elders and government functionaries I grew up seeing and hearing from looked and acted like the respected and dignified figures they were. I have vivid pictorial memories of some of them to this day . For example, I remember seeing the then Speaker of Parliament Njie BP on Senegalese tv giving an arrival interview at the foot of the aircraft in Dakar as head of delegation representing the country to the funeral of a prominent Senegalese (I think it was Alagi Jilly Mbye the philanthropist businessman). Dressed in tastefully embroidered upmarket mbasagne, neatly trimmed beard and trademark glasses , he went on to deliver a poignant condolence message on behalf of our nation in the name of his delegation and concluded his remarks with “ sungne yon teh deffa fedalleh mboka and kollareh bi am sungne digantteh nyari rew yi” . His poise , his delivery and his overall comportment on that trip as well as his overall career all exude the kind of aura of soft and determined confidence I like in our leaders . The same is true of traditional chiefs I grew up with . They had a certain presence and aura of dignity to them . If you were in their presence , you saw and felt the significance of their office and humility and decency they carried themselves with . I also remember the broad smiles and gentle disposition of IGP Mboob , the solid policy speeches BB Darboe used to deliver in parliament and how Sir Dawda conducted himself in office . He honored and respected the very high office he held , conducted his affairs with humility and dignity and wielded the tremendous power that came with his office carefully and always with a keen awareness of the burden of responsibility he had to everyone in the country. He looked the part of a leader , acted as true leader and always put others ahead of his personal needs.
How far and deep we have fallen . Today our speaker of parliament is nowhere near the stature and competence of Njie BP or AS Jack. He doesn’t look the part at all . From the rostrum he looks a cartoon character presiding over a circus. He is a lackey and appendix of the jammeh tyranny who Adama Barrow picked from the swamps of Tallinding and foisted him on the nation . The traditional chiefs I see nowadays look like hungry refugees or gele gele apparantehs. These are not Sanjally Bojang , Alagi Abou Khan or Alagi Sarja Mboge material . Those guys and their contemporaries were Seyfolu pirr. Today our nation is lacking in substantive and respected government leaders who inspire confidence , attract respect , have earned stature by dint of what they have accomplished on merit . All we see are leaders , “ advisers “ , cabinet officials who are at best annoying nuisances wrecking our country. I pray we once again get the best among our people be in charge of our wonderful country and it’s good people . We have so many good people in our midst who I know can do great for all of our people.
