Dear Latjor,

     I read your response to my question and found it informative to some
     extent and getting my standpoint misuderstood in another sense.
     I now like to highlight those points where you seems to get me wrong.

     To begin with your first paragraph, you stated as follows: I think
     there are many ways one could respond to your rhetorical questions,
     bearing in mind that these issues have been rehashed many times on
     this forum over the years. My questions were posed to get the facts
     right and satisfy my curiosity on this issue. Whether these issues
     were raised many times on this forum is not up to my knowledge.

     In your second paragraph, you opined that, a simple answer could be
     that you assume there is such a class called "intellectuals" among
     Gambians who act in a concerted manner, and therefore could have
     impacted the "politico-socio-economic development of the country and
     its citizenry during the past thirty years". This assumption is that
     of yours and not mine. Never misconstue my question to give another
     meaning. I wrote in simple English that I am amazed to notice that The
     Gambia... Here I am expressing my surprise to the number of
     intellectuals that Gambia has, having read your posting inviting
     people to a conference and giving names and titles of those
     participants. Most of those you named are unknown to the majority of
     Gambians including me, as compared to those living in The Gambia and
     making their contributions known, like Halifa Sallah, Sidia Jatta to
     name just a few, as renown scholars.

     You also referred to Demba Kunda and Basse, as a point of focus in my
     posting. Far from it. But thanks to God,  Saul understood my point
     better and I therefore go by his response to you. I just gave Demba
     Kunda and Basse as examples to mean every corner of The Gambia.

     In your second to last paragraph you asked: Is it wrong to be an
     intellectual? NO, but... It is wrong to be an intellectual if someone
     who has trained herself or himself in one or more disciplines and
     failed to utilizes her/his skills to addressing the myriad of
     "politico-socio-economic" issues attendant to humanity, especially
     where he or she hailed from.

     Be informed that, the purpose of my posting was not at bashing our
     intellectuals nor ridicule anyone of them. I have that high respect
     for each and every one of them and I am looking forward in the long
     distance future to be one of them.

     Finally, I want to thank you for that interesting information
     regarding the contributions of some of the intellectuals you listed
     though I would have like to get their names.

     I appreciated the efforts of those professors who went on vacation and
     gave some lectures at the university, who needed them most at all
     times. Also commendable are those who donate books to Gambian school
     children and of course the one who initiated this forum as well as the
     one who co-edited a major work on the new African Poets.

      For all those intellectuals in The Gambia, I salute all of you.

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