By Cherno Cham
Berending, Lower Niumi
Through the times of history, the world continues to change. Mankind has no influence in the massive structure of the universe but only to interfere with some of the natural factors in his immediate environment. Planet earth, which he calls the world; we live in and try to create a materialistic life as we think may suit a worldly status. Every generation proposes transformations as may presume better standards for humanity. Politically evolution is no exception in these changes. The world has undergone series of substantial variations overtime and The Gambia is no exclusion.
My fellow Gambians at home and in the Diaspora; let us realise that our mandate in this present time is not only to create conducive Gambia for our living but a Gambia with a difference and be accountable for any progress or failure that coming generations may face to challenge. We are blessed with an agreeable ethnology that can compromise into national unity and prosperity.
There can be no miracle to any positive achievements in the absence of peace and a collective sense of nationalism with utmost pride. The pathway to national consciousness is to focus on true democratic values free from tribalism. Our leadership we should respect with the realization that each and every one of us has a civic responsibility.
We say the Gambia has decided. It is evident. There is a change of government to which the whole world was aware. We plunged into a critical predicament and impasse which inflicted a syndrome of partial economic paralysis, fear and uncertainties. Many sympathized with us and The Gambia became a case study for ECOWAS and the AU. It cost us dearly both economically and morally to phase-out the wanton dictatorship regime of Yahya Jammeh, putting in place a democratically elected Coalition leadership as our choice. Should we now relax our allegiance, sovereignty and national duty?
Truly, the land, the people and the government make up the nation. I also share the opinion that the people create the government and equally agree that democracy denotes government of the people, by the people and for the people. Then, every expert of nation building is the absolute responsibility of the people. Governments or leaderships are symbolic. They come and go as we have seen but the land and the people remain in co-existence.
We should hold our pledges as enshrined in our national anthem. We have very urgent national issues to tackle. There should be no time wasting to look for directions as the dust has long since settled for our view ahead given the present favorable state of freedom, equal rights and justice. President Barrow and the coalition of visionary parties and their leaders should be accorded the needed loyalty and support.
We have had the first republic in the immediate post colonial era. Being like Singapore was their dream, in the philosophy of “Tesito”. Unfortunately, the dream and the dreamers were unconstitutionally ousted to be replaced by an undemocratic regime of the APRC which was characterized by dictatorship, banishments, jail, dismissals and economic shattering in an atmosphere of grave human rights violations and charlatan politics. They called it a second republic, with a bigger dream that the Gambia is becoming a “city state”.
Their philosophy was “set-setal”. Fear and economic hardship warranted the obvious decision of the people the electorate, to throw them out. Now comes the true will of the people, contributing into a combination of sound personalities as representation of entire Gambia.
We should not sit back but learn from our mistakes and realize the need for collective national duty. Peace and unity are key in building a nation. When we account for development, we make reference to agriculture, health, education and other socio-economic factors as parameters.
The attainment of these cannot be forgot without national political consciousness which will undoubtedly create an atmosphere of tranquility to enable our leaders and planners focus better on the implementation of the development agenda for nation building.
Numerous tasks are in the waiting or yet to be accomplished. Revisiting and reviving the national constitution to make it immune from manipulation, reassessment of labor laws and local government act, restructuring and upgrading the civil service, stabilizing the security and most importantly, promoting national productivity in agriculture, name them. All these are areas where each and every one of us has a stake.
May I pronounce commendation to President Adama Barrow for judiciously considering the plight of victims of more than two decades of tyranny Proper legal scrutiny and appropriate compensations will certainly magnify the volume of atrocities and will surely be a relief to those that have suffered. However, the loss of precious lives can never be valued.
I cannot conclude without delegating cautious words to government personalities and leadership aspirants. Politicians are known to make flowery promises. Some are wishes but a majority of them are cosmetics to entice supporters.
Promises made mostly relate with the needs of the people. However, the promise to bring reconciliation and unity cannot be neglected. Unity and strength of a nation is never imported but homegrown. Political success rests on how well one is capable of reconciling differences and uniting the people on the path of development.
President Barrow and his coalition leadership are well focused on bringing unity, peace and development. Let us put aside inter personal differences and should wish that other nations will also emulate from us positive attributes as phases in our political metamorphosis. Always Gambia and Gambians must remember Solo Sandeng and those who precipitated the Revolution.
Long live the Gambia
