Hello Pasamba/Folks,
Thank you very much for your thought provoking posting . It is about time
that we start addressing our people in general and those who call themselves
intellectuals in particular about the urgency of the need to do something
pragmatic about the decaying Socio economic situation in the Gambia.Indeed
if the Gambia sinks as a result of the ineptitude, incompetence and
corruption of the APRC regime, it would represent irreparable damage to all
of us .Whether one is an intellectual living in the affluent suburbs of
Banjul, a dispossessed farmer living in the harsh realialities of rural
Nyanga-bantang, or wallowing in Urban poverty around the dump site at
Bakoteh,we all stand to suffer the same fate.Humane persons cannot sleep,or
enjoy life's great benefits when the lot of their kin is characterised by
suffering.In the same vein, a people who profess to be believers in justice
cannot have a clear conscience when the very people whose resources have
rendered them all the opportunities they have been enjoying, are the victims
of acts of barbarity and injustice.One has to be real opportunist in order
to be abled to condone the situation in the Gambia.
Many a time in the Gambia,when one is critical about the Socio economic
situation in the country,soneone would ask you whether you are the only one
going through the hard times.At this juncture, I am tempted to recount the
story of the fight between the lizards:once upon a time, two lizards were
fihgting and there was nobody to separate them.But Kuti the dog who saw them
decided to spread the news around. She first went to uncle hen and told him
about the fight but he excused himself from taking action by insisting that
he had nothing to do with a fight between two lizards.Aunty dog proceeded to
the herd of cattle behind the village and extended news of the episode
unfolding in the village to uncle bull.Confident that his security was amply
assured and no mishap could emanate from the lizards' fight of negative
consequences to him, uncle bull refused to even contemplate taking
action.Thus the fight between the lizards continued without any of the other
villagers intervening to stop it.As they fought on the thatched roof of the
house whose walls were made of elephant grass,an old man was taking his
mid-day nap in the hut,while fire made from huge logs was graciously burning
infront of his bed.The lizards fought on and on until they fell into the
almost extinguished fire.The impact of their fall and their efforts to
scamper into safety,scattered bits of burning wood from the fire.And as they
took different directions to nurse the burns they sustained, fire gradually
spread from the bits of burning wood to the walls of the hut. While the old
man was still sleeping, the fire grew and eventually engolved the entire hut
and the old man lost dear life in the conflagration.
A process of mourning immediately started. And as mourners from the
neighbourhood started to congregate in the compound, it was thought
necessary to cook some food.Uncle hen was immediately caught and slaughtered
to be part of the food.About fourty days later,when people were preparing to
congregate for another ceremony,uncle bull was slaughtered to go towards the
feeding of the mourners. In that manner both uncles hen and bull lost their
lives after the death of the old man who was the sole depository of ancient
wisdom in the village.
I need not go into the teachings of this story,but rather allow us all to
reflect on it individually.But it is pertinent to remember that because of
the horrendous barbarities committed against the people of the Gambia by the
APRC regime,the whole world is waiting to see what persons of conscience of
Gambian nationality will do to redress the terrible situation in our dear
motherland.As a people we are not known to be selfish and wicked.But our
current political leadership's performance over the years has shown it to be
selfish and wicked.There is only one way now in which we can prove to
humanity that we are a just society and that is by replacing the current
inept and brutal dictatorship in our country with a just one.The onus is on
all of us, but more so those who claim to be "educated" and of the
"intellectual" class.
Omar Joof,
Ex-GAMSU prexy.








>From: Pasamba Jow <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: TIME TO PUT THE GAMBIA FIRST
>Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 00:06:08 +0000
>


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