By Alagie Saidy Barrow
Time was, Gambian diplomacy required some degree of finesse, professionalism, and knowledge. Unfortunately, those times are long gone. There is a reason every shamed or unwanted civil servant is sent to the dustbin that The Gambia’s foreign service has come to represent. Few so-called diplomats exemplify the crudeness, unprofessionalism, and arrogance that afflict our foreign service more than one Facuru Sillah, the first secretary at the Gambian Embassy in France. If you can, please follow his social media activities, and you will see what I mean. That it is this calibre of people who represent our nation is a testament to how standards have fallen since his benefactor, Yahya Jammeh, usurped power and started filling the diplomatic corps with gauche like the Facurus.
I didn’t know who Facuru Sillah was until he sent me a message that he would like to comment on my Facebook posts and asked me to allow him to comment on my writings. I told him he could not comment unless we were friends and thinking he was sober, I promised to add him as a friend. I went further to tell him that I loved his name, Facuru. Little did I know of his “curuyaa”. He thanked me and that was the end of the conversation. Facuru never accepted the friend request I sent him but he still came out accusing me of disabling his ability to comment on my post when I tagged him. This guy calls himself a digital creator but does not even understand the basic settings of Facebook. Time reveals all that is hidden in the dark; apparently, he had other devilish motives! Typical of too many of us trapped within this colonial space, they snake their way into your circle and you welcome them with open arms, only for them to turn around and try to backstab you. And if that means telling bald-faced lies about you, then so be it. I’m not sure if it is attention-seeking theatrics or if the man is simply a born liar but he barked up the wrong tree in me. I’ll duly give him the notoriety he craves and expose his lies.
Facuru Sillah went on his page to create a narrative that his handlers in the NPP would praise him for. His post was mostly about me and what I supposedly said, but Facuru couldn’t bother to muster the decency to tag me so I could respond to his lies. Thanks to a friend who alerted me to this snake of a diplomat. In his calumnies, Facuru never quoted anything I said to support his insidious agenda and couldn’t be honest enough to bother providing any context either. He simply wanted to project himself as the defender of The Gambia and myself and Sulayman Jeng as people clamouring for violence in The Gambia! To miseducated and opportunistic public parasites like Facuru, any call for people to stand up to power means a call to violence. But I understand; many of his kind, leeching on the backs of poor Gambians, have a serious phobia towards any change in The Gambia because they know that no serious government would even consider them for dog catcher position! So Facuru is protecting his interest by projecting himself as a hero and a far more patriotic and decent human being. Sulayman Jeng and I as the villains and troublemakers sound good to Facuru’s masters.
Reminiscent of the unintelligible hubris that is pervasive among the foreign service cadre, Facuru set out to malign my name while his NPP handlers cheered. One APRC/NPP miseducated Fofana fellow even threatened that I would be prosecuted if I ever stepped in The Gambia. That’s how ignorance fuels some of these mindless and rabid partisans who are only educated enough to be miseducated. In their warped sense of arrogance, they can also dictate who should be prosecuted and who shouldn’t. When I confronted Facuru about his lies, with zero shame or decency, he instead insisted on debating me as if I were inclined to debate miseducated characters like him! Facuru wants to have an “intellectual” debate! Talk about having a complex! I certainly do not consider myself an intellectual on any level, but Facuru’s insistence on an intellectual debate sadly speaks to how low intellectualism has sunken in our colonial space! Jammeh’s damage to Gambia will be felt for generations!
I did a bit of digging on this Facuru character and realised that I was dealing with another spineless, dishonest, and opportunistic Gambian. Facuru is one of those who are leeching on the backs of Gambians with nothing to show for it except their own illusions of grandeur. He told me no one is more qualified than him to be first secretary in France! Not only in The Gambia but throughout the world! Someone, who knows Facuru very well, confronted him about his past dealings with Baba Jobe but the clever Facuru conveniently ignored that person. I guess not all of us are proud of our history especially if your history doesn’t match the image you try to portray. One minute he is yearning for the return of his benefactor Yahya Jammeh and the next minute, he is chastising people for taking to the streets to demand the return of Jammeh.
Here is my warning for Gambians residing in France. I came across a letter that Facuru Sillah wrote claiming Barrow should not run for a third term. Given that Facuru made that statement while on the payroll of Barrow and continues to leech on the backs of Gambians, you better watch out for this character! I strongly believe he is playing on two teams at the same time; pretending to be with those asking Barrow not to self-perpetuate while carrying water for his handlers in the Barrow government. If I lived in France or found myself in any gathering that Facuru attended, I’d sleep with both eyes open. The saddest part is that it is crude individuals like this that represent the thousands of otherwise decent Gambians. You just have to feel sorry for the people!
