I am looking for my friends,both of whom i lost in contact when i moved
from Illinois to Ohio.They are Ebrima Ceesay and Musa Sowe. They both
graduated from Nusrat High School. Ebrima Ceesay used to live at Serrekunda
(Latri-kunda Sabji) while Musa Sowe is from Brikama. Musa Sowe is currently
living in North Carolina at Raleigh.If any body know either of them,please
give them my E-mail address or my phone number. By the way i am Sambou
Jaiteh
E-mail [log in to unmask]
Phone----(614) 431-0619
If you see any one E-mail like this with an attachment do not open it.Last
time i send something,some one put an attachment to the same heading.
Sambou
----------
> From: chernob jallow <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Tribute to D.A.Jawo
> Date: Tuesday, June 22, 1999 1:54 PM
>
> D.A.Jawo: A man,a mission
>
> by Cherno Baba Jallow
> in Detroit,USA
>
> "You can't run tanks on hopes. You can't riddle people's
yearnings
> with bullets."
> --- Pres. Ronald Reagan to Chinese leaders on
Tiananmen
> Square massacre.
>
> Such was the toughness and outspokeness enshrined in the writings of
> D.A.Jawo. A journalist of calibre and timbre,a man of unassuming
character
> and moral uprightness,Jawo recently became the first casualty of the
change
> of ownership of the Daily Observer Company. He was fired without good
> reasons but apparently for his acerbic opinions and beliefs and ideas,on
the
> fossilization of his society. If you're looking for a prisoner of
> conscience,Jawo is one.
>
> Well,actually,he's no prisoner,but a victim - not of his own designs -
but
> those of the privileged few,luxuriating in covetous courtship with the
> powerful,and hell-bent on stifling intellectual growth and freedom. Jawo
may
> have been driven to the edges of intellectual frustration, but the
> ebullience and resilience in him,larger than imaginable,will rekindle his
> hopes,put him once again,on the cusp of his mission: to speak the
> unvarnished truth without fear or favour,in these days of Gambian
political
> insanity. And incivility.
>
> While at the Observer,Jawo unwittingly earned himself the custodianship
of
> the newspaper's traditions and precepts. He infused responsibility and
> accountability in all of us - young writers,occasionally prone to
youthful
> immaturities and peccadilloes yet working for a credibly serious
newspaper.
> He knew us all by our personae,typescripts,writing styles and work
ethics.
> And he would dutifully point out our errors and proffer solutions,and
then
> leave you to defend your position.
>
> Jawo's writings as a reporter and columnist at the Observer had the
cutting
> edge of truth. He never shied away from speaking his mind even if the
scales
> of public opinion were against him. That's one of the traits of a good
> columnist: readiness to grapple with any issues whether controversial or
> inflammatory of majoritarian tyranny.
>
> And Jawo was such good columnist. He wrote with verve and
> enthuasism,profundity and clarity,honesty and objectivity. He combined
> toughness and civility,which made his acerbic writings painfully
> irresistible,instructively unputdownable. Read this:
>
> "The AFPRC also promised us that openness,transparency and accountability
> will be the hallmarks of the regime, but it appears that there is quite a
> lot left to be desired in that regard. We have witnessed the summary
> dismissal of senior civil servants and other republic servants,and others
> have been arrested and detained without anyone caring to tell us the
reasons
> for such drastic actions." Jawo was doing a stocktaking of the AFPRC'S
100
> days in power in 1994. Five years later,his words still have a ring of
truth
> about current political realities in our nation.
>
> But Jawo had one skill that many columnists do not have: he had ways of
> telling you 'go to hell' and still have you come back to him looking for
> friendship. Do you want a proof of that? Just see how he single-handedly
> challenged State House Imam Abdoulie Fatty on his fanatical
> rabble-rousings,which Jawo considered to be inimical to Islamic
> sanity,secular unity and societal progress. In return,the Imam
"threatened"
> Jawo,but later denied he ever did so. He said he would be happy to meet
Jawo
> and even shake hands with him.
>
> Imam Fatty's overt change of heart was not because he wittingly submitted
> himself to self-scrutiny,but because he discovered his threats could not
> frighten Jawo into silence;that Jawo was a mountain that didn't move. He
was
> rock-solid in his opinions on the actions of the Imam. Jawo was not the
type
> of reporter or columnist easily brow-beaten into reticence. Speak his
mind
> he must!
>
> I recall with great nostalgia my days at the Observer with Jawo. If he
was
> not editing news reports,he was always busy scribbling notes which he
would
> later develop into a thought-provoking essay or commentary. His eyes
gazing
> above the rims of his lenses,adorned with his grizzled hair,Jawo would
> always engage us in journalistic dialogue on issues of the day. He would
ask
> probing questions and then a proliferation of ideas would follow. We
never
> always agreed with him,but oftentimes we listened with painstaking
> attention,as he argued his points.
>
> My respect for Jawo increased when, out of sheer ethica values,he stood
by
> me during my confrontation with the then Acting Nigerian High
Commissioner
> Goffrey Teneilabe. The High Commissioner was incensed by an article I
wrote
> in my column in 1995 lambasting his propagandist diplomacy at the behest
of
> Sani Abacha,Nigeria's most brutal military dictator since Ironsi in 1966.
>
> I wrote: "Time after time,the Acting Nigerian High Commissioner,more
> loquacious than profound,has put up a spirited defence in favour of the
> Abacha regime. The Abuja administration is constantly proffered panegyric
> stakes. And anything critical of it is viewed disdainfully." The High
> Commisioner went bonkers! He threatened to sue me and the Daily Observer
> Company,for libel? We wondered.
>
> Granted,facts and Almighty God were on my side,and I had received
tremendous
> support from Nigerians in the streets,I still was visibly shaken by the
> threat of a suit. Here was a young columnist taking to task a high
> commissioner of the most powerful country in West Africa. I didn't want
to
> go through all the rigmarole of court proceedings;it was going to waste
my
> time and delay my efforts to pursue university education abroad,I
lamented.
> And I was concerned that my family,which was always opposed to my
journalism
> career,would have had more genuine reasons why I needed to quit the
> profession.
>
> But Jawo determinedly pep talked me out of my emotional distress. "You
have
> nothing to fear," he reassured me. "Your opinions are your opinions," he
> added. He reasoned that to put me on trial for my opinions,expressed
within
> the ambits of the law,would be a travesty, and that the Nigerian High
> Commission was simply fighting a rearguard situation.
>
> Up till I left The Gambia in 1996,nobody would tell me anything more
about a
> lawsuit from the Nigerian High Commission. An informed source would later
> tell me the suit-threat had been dropped,and the High Commissioner had
> simply lodged a complaint against me at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on
> Marina Parade.
>
> Jawo's moral support was very instrumental. It energized my zeal to pen
down
> yet more groundbreaking articles. He dusted off old copies of the
AfricaNow
> and New African magazines from his drawers and handed them to me. His
wish
> was to open up my mind to the didactic writings of Peter Enahoro,Abdu
Rahman
> Babu and Phillip Ochieng,three great African columnists who made great
> strides on Africa's journalistic scene in the 1970s and 80s. In those
> days,Jawo was already writing in the opinion pages of these magazines.
His
> interest in journalism is as old as the hills.
>
> Dismissal from the Observer will make not break Jawo. Always determined
and
> perceptive, he will bounce back and carry on with his mission. He is
> undaunted. In the pursuit of truth he shall continue to persevere. And
> survive. I think the world of Jawo.
>
>
> _______________________________________________________________
> Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
>
>
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